Son of Rudy Giuliani
Raids against World Cup fans? Trump’s appointee speaks out
12/4/2025 – 1:04 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
There could also be raids by the ICE immigration authorities at the World Cup in the USA. Trump’s man for FIFA doesn’t want to rule that out.
White House FIFA representative Andrew Giuliani has not ruled out the possibility of fans at World Cup games being detained by ICE immigration officials. In response to a question, the son of the former New York mayor and lawyer for US President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, said: “I have known the president for 25 years. The president does not rule out anything that will help increase the security of American citizens.”
At the press conference in Washington, Giuliani compared the German national team’s defense with the security measures of the USA. Germany has a very, very strong defense. “We like to think that their football defense is like the national security of the United States, a strong defense that is very difficult to overcome.”
Giuliani was confident that many Germans would come to the World Cup. “We know that the Germans travel wherever the World Cup is taking place. They will certainly be at this year’s World Cup too. They will probably go far in the tournament.” The White House FIFA representative pointed out that Germans do not need a visa to enter the country.
Germans could instead submit a so-called Esta (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) application online. This is a program that allows citizens to stay in the United States without a visa, for example for vacation.
At the press conference, Giuliani had to face many questions about possible immigration problems, whether fans would be stopped at the border because they might have taken part in protests or posted something critical on Facebook or X. The White House FIFA representative did not explicitly address this.
He simply said that it was not true that Trump did not welcome immigrants. He only said that he wanted to ensure that people could enter the United States legally. “This way we can also ensure that the games and other events are safe.”
Giuliani announced that fans who need a visa can expect their application to be processed much more quickly than normal. In 2023, visitors from Brazil had to wait another year for their visa, now it’s two months. In general, anyone who has a ticket will go to the front of the queue when the visa is issued.