U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had a stark message for would-be attendees of the Super Bowl next year.
“We’ll be all over that place,” she told right-wing journalist Benny Johnson after he asked her about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s presence at the event.
She continued, “We’re gonna enforce the law. So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country.”
Noem’s comments echoed remarks from DHS adviser Corey Lewandowski, who appeared on Johnson’s podcast earlier this week.
The two were discussing the news that Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny would be headlining the Super Bowl LX halftime show. Bad Bunny has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and vowed earlier this year that he would not tour in the U.S. due to the threat ICE poses to his fans.
Johnson asked, “Will ICE have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show?”
“Benny, there is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski replied. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you.”
Some on social media wondered how literally people should take Noem’s message that only “law-abiding Americans” should attend the Super Bowl, particularly as it might apply to international tourists in town during the event.
Since the onset of Trump’s immigration crackdown, there have been numerous reports of foreign travelers being apprehended by ICE and held for days to weeks in detention facilities, prompting warnings from some countries about traveling to the U.S.