As the White House convened its new World Cup task force, Vice President JD Vance threatened to deport World Cup tourists who come to the U.S. next summer. He then kicked it to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose face is already quite familiar to World Cup fans. A disgusting Homeland Security ad starring Noem has been airing during major soccer matches in Mexico. Her message to our World Cup co-host? “We will hunt you down,” she says in the ad. “Criminals are not welcome in the United States.”
As someone who doesn’t watch sports, it’s Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-tourist policies that made me aware that the World Cup happens in many cities. I live in Seattle, so I knew that it was coming here. I didn’t know that it’s going all sorts of other places as well. Makes it feel stupider how much the city is investing in it.