Swalwell plays up athletic credentials in effort to blunt DHS sweeps at World Cup

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., invoked his collegiate soccer career while introducing a package of bills to prevent immigration enforcement behavior in and around World Cup sites this June.

More than a dozen American cities will be hosting World Cup soccer matches, including East Rutherford, N.J., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington – while three Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee want to prevent what they call racial and linguistic profiling that would instill fear in fans.

“How can our country host the World Cup while deporting visiting fans from around the world?” Swalwell said in a statement introducing his “Safe Passage to the World Cup Act.”

“As a former Division I soccer player, I know what an honor it is to host the world’s biggest sporting event.

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Swalwell, an Iowa native, played goalkeeper in Division I soccer at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. 

The future liberal firebrand dreamed of being a professional soccer star himself, but ended up breaking his thumbs, which eventually sidelined his prospective career.

After transferring to the University of Maryland in College Park, he interned in neighboring Washington, D.C. for Rep. Ellen Tauscher, a California Democrat.

“That was a turning point. I knew I didn’t want to play soccer anymore; I wanted to be in Washington,” Swalwell told Diablo Magazine in 2013 in a story now facsimiled on his official congressional website.

Swalwell’s bill would ban federal DHS funding from being used for civil immigration enforcement activities on public transit or at terminals from June 11 to July 19 in any city hosting a FIFA match or festival.

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The bill does provide a carveout for “hot pursuit” of suspects presenting an “imminent risk to public safety.”

“Our priority should be to showcase our best—not have police commandeering buses, trains, and public spaces,” Swalwell said in a statement.

“This bill ensures ICE cannot turn everyday public transportation into a place of terror. It is shameful for DHS to trap people with political stunts.”

“We are better than this,” he said.

Swalwell sits on the House Homeland Security Committee’s Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States.

That panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Nellie Pou of New Jersey, represents the area around the New York Giants’ stadium, where matches will be held.

Pou crafted a companion bill called the Save the World Cup Act, which bans immigration enforcement near matches or festivals themselves – and would enforce measures to ensure parking lots and fan midways are not encroached upon by ICE enforcement sweeps to “deter attendance and indiscriminately target communities.”

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“With fewer than 90 days until kickoff, the World Cup should bring the world together and not leave families wondering if ICE agents will be waiting outside stadiums,” Pou said in a statement, adding that she asked ICE Director Todd Lyons if he would assure her of no such enforcement — but that he declined.

A third task force member – Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., — still faces charges over an alleged assault on a federal agent outside Delaney Hall in her hometown of Newark.

The case remains active as of January, according to the New Jersey Monitor, which reported that Biden-appointed Judge Jamel Semper allowed two of three counts to proceed as McIver appeals.

McIver’s companion bill would prohibit state grant programs for being used for civil immigration enforcement near World Cup game sites.

“Fans from around the world and across the country will travel to New Jersey to watch the World Cup, and keeping them safe means protecting them from DHS attempting to turn this global event into a dragnet for the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda,” she said in a statement.

“We fought to secure millions of federal dollars so soccer fans can enjoy the biggest game in the world—they should not be intimidated by immigration enforcement. I’m introducing this bill to draw a clear line that makes sure state and local law enforcement can actually focus on keeping fans safe.”

A DHS spokesperson said the agency still plans to work with local and federal partners to secure the World Cup matches “in line with federal law and the U.S. Constitution as we do with every major sporting event, while showcasing American greatness to the entire world.”

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“International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about,” DHS said. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S.— full stop.”

The spokesperson called speculation in the legislative package “ill informed” and that foreign visitors must still be “proactive” and have all their forms filed to Washington and their personal documents in order ahead of time to ensure a smooth travel experience.