A new HRSA report warns that immigration enforcement is already fracturing community sports across the country.
The Human Rights Soccer Alliance (HRSA) has published a major new report warning that immigration enforcement in the United States is already reshaping grassroots soccer communities ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The report, Fear, Intimidation and the World Cup: The impact of immigration enforcement on soccer in the United States, documents how fear of immigration raids, detention and surveillance is affecting players, coaches, families and supporters across the country.
According to the report, soccer spaces once viewed as safe community environments are increasingly becoming places associated with fear and uncertainty for many immigrant communities and communities of colour.
HRSA has documented at least 15 cases involving soccer players, youth athletes, coaches, parents and supporters who were detained or deported during 2025 and 2026. In several cases, individuals were detained during routine immigration check-ins, near soccer facilities or while connected to football activity. The report states none of the documented cases involved criminal convictions.
But the organisation says the wider impact stretches far beyond those directly detained.
Across several communities, youth training sessions have reportedly been cancelled, participation levels have dropped and families are withdrawing children from football programmes due to fear of immigration enforcement near schools, parks and sports facilities.
In some areas, grassroots clubs say attendance has collapsed almost overnight following nearby enforcement activity or rumours of ICE presence.
The report also documents how supporter culture has already been affected. Some fan groups have cancelled tailgates, boycotted matches or reduced attendance because of fears surrounding immigration enforcement around stadiums and public gathering spaces.
HRSA warns that the psychological impact on young people and families is becoming increasingly severe, particularly for children growing up in mixed-status households or communities where immigration enforcement activity is highly visible.
The organisation argues that football cannot separate itself from the wider political and social environment surrounding the communities that sustain the sport in the United States.
The report is also sharply critical of the lack of meaningful public response from many major soccer institutions. HRSA says governing bodies, leagues and clubs have largely failed to introduce clear safety protocols or publicly advocate for protections for players, supporters and families.
With the FIFA World Cup now only weeks away, HRSA says urgent action is needed to ensure football spaces do not become sites of intimidation, surveillance or fear.
“Soccer should be a sanctuary, not a site of intimidation,” the report concludes.
