Before the anti-immigrant policy that has established Donald Trump in the United States and on the eve of what several specialists point out as the biggest sporting event in decades for North Americathe fans that still live without official papers in the US are emerging as the forgotten sector for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In the words of the Mexican correspondent Jose Romero Matawho for more than two decades worked as a journalist in the United States for this country, Immigrants will not risk becoming victims of potential raids around the event organized by FIFAdespite being for years the strong arm in Concacaf events, such as the Gold Cup or even the Copa Américaevents that Mexico already Mexican Soccer Federation They meant profit – until before Qatar 2022 – about 10 million dollars a year, according to Los Angeles Times.
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“Las Trump’s policies scared away the Mexican from the stadiums. Before I used to make stories about how people raised their money months in advance to see Mexico at sporting events in the US and today we can see that The undocumented person is afraid and does not think about what the World Cup will be like“, indicated the correspondent who recorded how Latin people invested between 500 and a thousand dollars for access to a Gold Cup match or a friendly match in Mexico in previous years.
With Donald Trump the raids have changed
Correspondent of what was once the Mexican News AgencyJosé Romero explained that in the past, even when it was known that there were places where a good portion of undocumented immigrants could concentrate, such as in National Team matchesthere was a very respect towards the event and raids against immigrants did not exist.
“Con Donald Trump this trend has changedbecause before it was unthinkable to believe in raids outside of courts, hospitals, schools, stadiums or public events, but the reality now is that these acts are already being carried out unexpectedly,” he added.
This policy is added to the detachment that Mexico has suffered with its fans in the USthat in the current 2023-2026 process, the National Team already had two of its lowest attendance records in the northern country, with 15 thousand spectators at Mexico vs Panama in the Nations League in Las Vegas in 2023 and the friendly game against New Zealand in 2024 in California, with barely 25 thousand followers in a Rose Bowl which can accommodate 92 thousand fans.
“Before we talked about how in every city they went to, they laid siege from the hotel and had a total party around the SNM and today a good part of that is lost,” added the specialist.
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CIPHER
It is estimated that 600 million dollars was what the United States obtained in income from organizing the Copa América 2024
DATA BOX
California, Texas and Illinois are the States with the largest presence of Mexicans in the US. The Latino community in the country extends to 65.1 million, of which in 2023 it was estimated 21.5 were undocumented
FIFA will not be responsible for the immigration status of those people who requested a ticket for the 2026 World Cup and entrusted those interested to arrange such measures before being part of the selection and purchase process.
TEXTUAL QUOTE
“In the US there are people who have already begun to punish the National Team for the poor results of recent years. We no longer experience that party that the Mexican representative used to generate” – José Romero Mata, Mexican correspondent in the US.
INSURED PROFIT
Publications in the US indicate that this nation has an estimated projection of 47 billion dollars to host the FIFA tournament in 2026 and will generate 290 thousand jobs