World Cup Poster Campaign Pushes Back Against ICE Presence at 2026 Matches
As the 2026 Fifa World Cup approaches, a new poster campaign is turning the tournament’s host cities into sites of political resistance. Artists from ten of the 11 U.S. host cities have created free downloadable designs for No Ice in the Cup, a project launched on May 6 by the Horizons Project to oppose the possible presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at matches.
The campaign is aimed at protecting vulnerable communities and making a public case against enforcement inside stadiums. Paola Mendoza, the lead organizer, said the project was designed to “motivate people through art” and to confront “the injustice, violence and indignity” ICE has inflicted on immigrant communities. She added that the initiative also centers “the love of the game,” describing soccer as a global sport that can bring people together across national and cultural lines.
The posters reflect that mix of urgency and symbolism. One Los Angeles design shows a man in a Mexico jersey being pulled by two sets of arms. Seattle’s contribution riffs on the city’s identity as Starbucks’ hometown through a coffee-inflected image. Miami’s poster uses a blue-outline alligator crushing a football in its jaw, paired with the slogan “No Ice in Our Waters.” New York’s poster, by a New York-based illustrator and first-generation Cuban American, depicts soccer players facing off against ICE agents in tactical gear.
The artist said the World Cup has long represented community, joy, and empowerment, especially for immigrant audiences who may not feel at home in more traditional American sports. For her, the idea of ICE entering those spaces threatens what makes the tournament distinct.
The campaign arrives amid mounting backlash against ICE. A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll released on June 4 found that nearly two thirds of Americans oppose ICE agents being present at World Cup stadiums. On April 23, more than 120 civil society groups issued a travel warning citing serious rights violations, including arbitrary denial of entry and the risk of arrest, detention, and deportation.
Those concerns have been reinforced by reports of travelers from Canada and Europe being held in ICE detention centers for days or even weeks. The American Hotel & Lodging Association has also pointed to the risk of detainment as one reason for lower-than-expected hotel bookings in host cities.
Federal officials have said ICE will not conduct enforcement operations during the tournament in Los Angeles, but Mendoza argues that the issue reaches beyond one summer of matches. In her view, the campaign is also a warning about how such tactics could be deployed in other civic spaces, including polling places during the 2026 midterm elections.
