With Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks just five days away, there has been a lot of speculation about whether or not Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
During a press conference on Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell discussed the league's intense security measures for the Super Bowl. He didn't say there would be ICE enforcement at the stadium though.
“It’s a SEAR-1 level event that involves unique assets at the federal level, state level and the local level, all working together. I see no change in that,” Goodell said. “We’re working with all three of those levels and doing everything we can to make sure it’s a safe environment. And the federal government is a big part of that, including this administration and every other administration before that. I think SEAR 1 has probably been the category we had since at least the turn of the century, if not before that. So, I just anticipate we’ll continue to do the work to make it the safest event."
NFL security chief Cathy Lanier put any concerns to rest Tuesday by confirming there won't be any immigration enforcement at the Super Bowl.
"We are confident of that," Lanier said. "There is not ICE deployed with us at this Super Bowl and I don't believe there has been in the last several."
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Stephen A. Smith chimes in on this subject.
During Monday's episode of his Mad Dog Sports Radio show, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith urged President Donald Trump to avoid sending ICE agents to the Super Bowl.
“ICE, with all the stuff that’s been going on, there are still threats by the Trump Administration that they will be at the Super Bowl. If that happens, it will be a disaster,” Smith said, via Awful Announcing. “I sincerely hope the Trump Administration will pull back on that. You don’t need to be messing with the Super Bowl. Let people enjoy the Super Bowl. Let them watch the Super Bowl in peace. You don’t need to be having that threat dangling over that.”
We'd have to imagine Smith will respond to the NFL's announcement later this week.