The new Homeland Security secretary has warned that World Cup security measures are “in jeopardy” after a 76-day funding freeze hampered preparations for the global tournament. Markwayne Mullin, who replaced Kristi Noem in March, made the remarks in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday as he urged Congress to pass funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
“It put our mission in jeopardy,” Mullin told reporters. “Can we still deliver? Yes. Can we be as proactive as we could have been? No.” He added that safety measures and personnel deployments had been delayed, with the first match scheduled for 11 June. Kansas City is one of 11 US host cities for the North America World Cup, which will see millions of fans attend matches across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Security will be heightened at airports and stadiums, with agencies including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI coordinating to identify risks such as terrorist attacks. Former acting ICE chief Todd Lyons previously said ICE would be a “key part” of security, prompting concerns after aggressive immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. Miami’s mayor has said he was assured by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ICE would not be deployed to games in Miami; it remains unclear whether ICE will be present elsewhere.
Mullin also said the funding freeze affected local law enforcement agencies, which went months without reimbursement from DHS for World Cup preparations. A blog post on Homeland Security Today warned that lingering TSA staffing shortages caused by the shutdown are expected to last through the summer. The funding freeze ended on 30 April when Trump signed a bill restoring DHS funding after 76 days.
Mullin blamed Democrats for the holdup, accusing them of shifting goalposts over demands for ICE reforms following the killings of two American citizens by ICE and DHS agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. “It’s the largest sporting event in the world, and for 76 days the Democrats wanted to shut us down,” he said, adding that they had put the safety of around 600,000 attendees in Kansas City over 30–35 days “in jeopardy”.
