Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be present at the 2026 Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California, while also blasting the NFL's decision to select Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny as the halftime headliner.
"So yeah, we'll be all over that place," Noem told podcaster Benny Johnson, The Hill reported Saturday. "We're going to enforce the law. So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless there are law-abiding Americans who love this country."
The NFL has faced backlash from conservative commentators and MAGA influencers over the halftime pick. Bad Bunny previously told i-D magazine he would not perform in the United States due to concerns that his Spanish-language concerts could be targeted by immigration enforcement.
Earlier Friday, the White House said there was "no tangible plan" to deploy ICE officers to the game.
But Noem, talking about the NFL's decision to pick Bad Bunny as the halftime entertainer, commented that "they won't be able to sleep at night."
She told Johnson that "they suck, and we'll win, and God will bless us, and we'll stand and be proud of ourselves at the end of the day, and they won't be able to sleep at night because they don't know what they believe, and they're so weak, we'll fix it."
She added that the DHS is responsible for securing the game and pledged aggressive enforcement.
"There will be because the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for keeping it safe, so I have the responsibility for making sure everybody goes to the Super Bowl, has the opportunity to enjoy it, and to leave, and that's what America is about," she said.
Corey Lewandowski, an adviser at DHS, also said on Johnson's program this week that immigration enforcement would extend to the game.
"There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else," he said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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