World Cup Nations Worry About Travel in Trump’s America

This summer, for the first time since 1994, the FIFA World Cup is coming back to North America. The tri-national hosting gig between the United States, Canada, and Mexico should be a celebration of the continental growth of soccer, and the unifying power of the most popular sport in the world. But this is 2026, and Donald Trump is in charge. 

The tournament is taking place against a backdrop of violent enforced nativism and foreign interventionism from the United States. The Trump administration has turned anti-immigrant policies into a deadly surveillance and deportation machine, and placed hardline restrictions on travel and tourism from majority Black and Muslim countries. It is currently waging a war against Iran — a qualifying country in the tournament — and causing a global fuel shortage that has skyrocketed travel and logistics costs ahead of the tournament. 

Countries are being backed into a corner, human rights groups are concerned, and fans are considering traveling only to Canada or Mexico — or skipping the World Cup entirely — in order to avoid potential encounters with an administration that seems set on making an example out of foreigners. 

The World Cup has always been imbued with a certain amount of political turmoil and opposition; it’s impossible to have dozens of countries in the same venue without some form of geopolitical tension. The scrutiny has been heightened after the last two tournaments took place in Qatar and Russia, countries with well known, notorious records of human rights abuses. FIFA may have been hoping that placing the 2026 tournament in North America could help balm the organization’s shaky reputation, but the return of Trump has only brought more controversy. 

This is perhaps the “worst time for human rights in the United States, maybe since the Civil Rights Movement,” Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program, tells Rolling Stone in an interview about the group’s monitoring of the upcoming tournament. From top to bottom, the ACLU and a coalition of human rights, civil rights, and immigrant groups are attempting to put pressure on the administration, FIFA, and local venues to, as Dakwar puts it, “take seriously their responsibility to ensure that people’s basic rights are protected — whether they are travelers and fans, reporters covering the sports events, or protesters who might want to protest whatever they want within their rights under U.S. law and international human rights law.” 

Since Trump’s return to office, the government’s immigration crackdown has seen legal visa holders and residents arbitrarily detained for long stretches of time. The rapidly expanded system of detention centers used to hold the ballooning number of immigration detainees are inhumane and increasingly deadly, and the Trump administration seems to believe it can crack down with impunity, regardless of the law. Amid the clamor, the Department of Homeland Security’s new secretary — former Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin — has made a point to reassure the public that while ICE will be present as supplemental security at events related to the World Cup, they won’t be there to “go round up mass individuals.” 

Regardless, the very presence of the violent militarized force has communities and prospective visitors on edge. Some nations are issuing updated guidance to citizens considering traveling to the United States on temporary visas for the tournament. Canada warned of tensions “in the border area between Mexico and the United States” for attendees with tickets to matches in both countries, adding that “there may be a regional advisory to avoid non-essential travel to one of the border states.”

Germany, France, and Ireland have issued warnings regarding the potential for violence in response to the protests in Minnesota earlier this year, in which immigration officials shot and killed two American citizens. France warns travelers “to avoid sudden or aggressive gestures or raising one’s voice while speaking to American law enforcement. Australia has warned travelers that U.S. officials may attempt to “inspect electronic devices, emails, text messages or social media accounts,” and that “participating in a protest or demonstration (including online) can be considered a breach of status and grounds for deportation or denial of a visa and/or immigration requests.” New Zealand has increased its threat level assessment for citizens visiting the United States, warning of an increased risk of mass shooter and terrorism incidents from both domestic and international threats. 

Advice from countries updating their guidance generally revolves around ensuring visitors carry proof of identification and legal status at all times, lest they encounter immigration authorities. Some nations have themselves been caught up in America’s isolationist spring, and seen their citizens outright barred from traveling to the United States. Under the Trump administration’s expanded travel restrictions, visitors from almost 40 countries have been made subject to total or partial travel bans.

The travel concerns are particularly acute for prospective attendees from Africa and the Middle East. The World Cup has expanded its field this year, and Africa is sending 10 qualifying countries for the first time in the tournament’s history. Ebenezer Obadare, senior fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, laments to Rolling Stone that instead of the World Cup being surrounded by a narrative about the growth of the sport and heightened level of play across continents, the event is plagued by “uncertainty” around travel and the Trump administration. “It’s extraordinary,” he says.

Obadare relays that many of the interested African fans he’s spoken to are eyeing attending games in Mexico over the United States. “They’re saying, ‘This is the first time in my life that I have the opportunity, and Mexico is not sending the same vibes that the U.S. is sending. So we’re all going to go to Mexico,’ and, ‘If you can’t go to Mexico, let’s go to Canada.’” 

Last month, the ACLU issued an advisory to prospective travelers warning of the risks of arbitrary detention or denial of entry by immigration officials, expanded travel restrictions to the U.S., increased social media screening and surveillance, as well as potential maltreatments at the hands of immigration authorities. 

Those risks, on top of the expanded travel restrictions, are “making the World Cup less universal, less open and welcoming,” Dakwar says. “The Trump administration has repeatedly shown its intention to violate human rights with no accountability whatsoever. But FIFA has not, as far as I know, repealed its human rights commitment.” 

Amnesty International, one of the leading global humanitarian rights groups, issued its own travel advisory, warning of “violent and unconstitutional immigration enforcement, including racial profiling,” the suppression of free speech, invasive screenings, and “serious risk of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, and in some cases, death, while in immigration detention facilities or custody.” 

Amnesty International Americas Advocacy Director Daniel Noroña emphasizes to Rolling Stone that in response to past concerns about host nations’ human rights records, FIFA has made public commitments it is bound to uphold. In 2017, the international sports body ratified its first “Human Rights Policy,” which required human and civil rights to be factored into the selection of host nations, reporting mechanisms for alleged violations related to the World Cup, and prompted the development of strategies to uphold “labour rights, anti-discrimination, press freedom and freedom of expression.” 

“When we have met with FIFA and with whole cities, and they say that they are doing everything they can to get assurances that certain banners and certain language will not be prohibited by security officials in stadiums, there is no certainty on our end that this will actually be implemented,” Noroña adds of the real lack of enforcement mechanisms. 

He points to the administration’s targeting of pro-Palestinian protesters and advocates, who have been detained by immigration agencies despite holding legal status. “What happens if someone goes with a Palestinian flag to the tournament? Palestine is actually a member of FIFA, because it’s a national entity, so it’s [theoretically] protected at this point.”

“FIFA has a lot of leeway on how they can pressure the government to ease certain regulations so the tournament can go on as is, but we haven’t really seen that,” he adds. 

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that it would be waiving pricey visa bonds (some up to $15,000 per person) for visa applicants from some of these countries with qualifying World Cup teams, including Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tunisia.  

The announcement came amid international consternation over the possibility that the hardline travel restrictions would apply to teams and their support staff. The White House has also denied that members of the Iraqi national soccer team had been denied entry visas. Applicants from Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey and Jordan, have reported difficulty making it through the cumbersome approval process. 

According to an April report from The New York Times, an adviser to Trump attempted to pressure the president and FIFA into replacing Iran with Italy — which did not qualify for the tournament — just weeks before it was set to begin. FIFA President Gianni Infantino, has repeatedly affirmed that Iran will not be excluded from the tournament given the ongoing hostilities with the United States. 

In Obadare’s view, FIFA and Infantino are toeing a delicate line with the Trump administration. “What would I do if I were the FIFA president, caught between the devil of President Trump and the need to host a successful tournament?” he wonders. An antagonized Trump could withdraw visas from nations with little regard for the association’s view on the matter. “I can’t predict this man, right? So what do I do? I give him this special trophy. I get my nose brown,” he adds, referencing the controversial FIFA “Peace Prize” that Infantino awarded to Trump last year. 

Everyone hopes that the World Cup is a successful month of really good soccer, and a secure environment for fans and players at home and abroad. As Obadare sees it, the Trump administration is projecting its “anxieties about immigration and [non-christian] religions” into a global sporting event that has historically been a venue of cross-cultural exchange. The majority of soccer’s devoted fandom — and historic fan culture — exists outside of the United States. Considering the current volatility of the United States, particularly as it pertains to immigrants, many of the fans who “will dance, who will shout, who scream, who will contribute to the liveliness of the atmosphere” will be the ones staying home.