ICE at the Super Bowl: What We Know Right Now

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On Sunday, Feb. 8, the Bay Area will host Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

And after widespread violence from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents against Minnesota residents, including two fatal shootings these last weeks, longstanding anxieties about potential ICE presence in the South Bay have only grown, stoked by public comments late last year from members of President Donald Trump’s administration.

But as the Super Bowl draws closer, what do we actually know about potential plans to send ICE to the Bay Area?

The latest update to know: In a Tuesday press conference, the National Football League’s head of security said there were no planned ICE or immigration enforcement operations scheduled around the Super Bowl or any events related to the game.

Keep reading for what we know about ICE and the Super Bowl right now, including how you can avoid accidentally spreading misinformation about immigration enforcement sightings in the region.

Jump straight to:

• Will President Donald Trump be at the Super Bowl?
• How do I know when rumors of ICE in the Bay Area are real?
• If I see ICE agents, can I film them?

What do we know about possible ICE presence at the Super Bowl?

The Trump administration has sent mixed messages on whether ICE will be part of this year’s Super Bowl safety strategy — following initial strong statements of intent last year to deploy agents to the game.

When asked by right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson in October if there would be ICE enforcement at the game, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said, “There will be, because the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for keeping it safe.” She added in the same interview that “people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country.”

On another episode of Johnson’s podcast later that month, DHS adviser Corey Lewandowski echoed the administration’s plan to send ICE to the event, calling the enforcement a “directive from the president.”

But when KQED sought confirmation from DHS last week, agency officials were much vaguer.

“We will not disclose future operations or discuss personnel,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an email to KQED. “Super Bowl security will entail a whole-of-government response conducted in line with the U.S. Constitution. Those who are here legally and are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear.” On Wednesday, KQED requested an updated comment from DHS.

In a Tuesday press conference, the National Football League chief security officer Cathy Lanier said: “There are no planned ICE or immigration enforcement operations that are scheduled around the Super Bowl or any of the Super Bowl related events.”

Lanier also appeared to downplay suggestions that the Trump administration could potentially deploy ICE agents to the Super Bowl without giving advance warning, telling reporters that the NFL had “a great relationship with our federal partners” and had met with DHS leadership “in the last week.”

“I’m confident that this partnership is strong and that we’re here for that public safety mission, and that’s what everybody that’s here is focused on,” said Lanier.

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told SFGATE that “we don’t anticipate unusual ICE activity” at the Super Bowl, and that the state would “work with state and local officials to ensure everyone’s safety.”

“We expect our federal partners to uphold safety, transparency and trust,” Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo said.

What are South Bay elected officials saying about ICE at the Super Bowl?

Since the killing of Renée Macklin Good and Alex Pretti by immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, state and local officials in California have ramped up their criticism of DHS leadership. Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, has called for Noem’s resignation.

In the Bay Area, local leaders have acknowledged the panic among residents caused by the lack of clear information on whether ICE or CBP will be in the region.

In a Tuesday statement, Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor echoed the NFL’s assurances, saying, “There are no planned ICE immigration enforcement operations associated with Super Bowl events in Santa Clara” and that “any federal presence that visitors or residents may see during Super Bowl week is standard event security.”

On Friday, San José Mayor Matt Mahan acknowledged the “rumors swirling for months about heightened immigration enforcement” at the Super Bowl, stating that in a conversation with NFL representatives, “We have been told those rumors are false.”

In an earlier statement on Jan. 25, Mahan said his city’s police officers “cannot and will not interrupt or assist with legal immigration enforcement — but they will protect you, your freedoms and our city.”

But officials also acknowledge that for the Bay Area to host major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl and the FIFA World Cup later this year, they must cooperate at some level with the Trump administration. (Jump to: What has ICE’s presence at the Super Bowl looked like in previous years?)

That doesn’t mean there aren’t limits to what federal agents can do, Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee said last week. “No one is above the law. There is no absolute immunity, and there is no license to kill,” he said of ICE officers.

“If anyone comes into our County masked, spreading terror, breaking laws and threatening our residents,” he said, “they will be arrested by our Sheriff’s deputies and police officers and held accountable under the full force of federal and state law.”

Last week, Santa Clara County Sheriff Robert Jonsen reminded residents that his own department’s deputies do not cover their faces while on duty.

“If they’re masked and they’re trying to hide their identity, then somebody hasn’t communicated with us,” he said, “because we’ve made it very clear to our officers, our workforce is to be open, transparent and engaged with this community.”

ICE and the Super Bowl: What are advocates in the South Bay saying?

Amidst this uncertainty about the true scale of possible ICE activity at the Super Bowl, the Rapid Response Network in Santa Clara County — a coalition of hundreds of volunteers working around the clock to verify possible ICE sightings — have recommended that vulnerable families do not let their guard down.

“We’re not sure if ICE is coming and when they’ll be here and how many agents they’ll be sharing,” said Socorro Montaño, a member of the network, at a press conference on Thursday. “What we do know is that ICE is always present in our community.”

“This threat is not new, so we don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” they said. “What we know is we need to stay ready so we don’t have to get ready to protect our community.”

On Super Bowl Sunday, the coalition will mobilize near Levi’s Stadium teams of legal observers trained to identify federal immigration agents and who can also send out alerts to the community if ICE or CBP agents are spotted. Montaño also confirmed that the network has been in communication with the unions representing stadium workers.

Advocates are also recommending that residents inform themselves of their rights when crossing paths with a federal officer and also save the contact information of their county’s rapid response network to their phone.

Jump to more information about verifying ICE rumors in the Bay Area.

Will President Donald Trump be at the Super Bowl?

According to the president’s own statements, no. In an interview on Saturday with the New York Post, Trump said the Santa Clara game was “just too far away.”

He also criticized the choice of Bad Bunny and Green Day as the event’s musical acts, calling their booking “a terrible choice.” Both acts have been critical of Trump and his administration.

What has ICE’s presence at the Super Bowl looked like in previous years?

The presence itself of the Department of Homeland Security at the Super Bowl is not new or unprecedented.

At last year’s Super Bowl, agents from Homeland Security Investigations — a directive within ICE — were deployed to New Orleans, in a decision the federal government described as a partnership “with the NFL and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to ensure the sports arena, workers, volunteers, athletes and spectators are safe and secure.”

In both previous Democratic and Republican administrations, DHS has been involved in some capacity with Super Bowl security, previously stating that the game has “significant national and/or international importance.” Including immigration enforcement as part of the event’s security strategy, however, would be a development unique to Trump’s time in the White House.

How do I know when rumors of ICE presence in the Bay Area are real?

It’s normal to feel scared about ICE showing up in your community, Huy Tran — executive director of Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) — told KQED in 2025.

“I understand the desire to want to do something, to share information right away,” said Tran, whose organization’s San José and Fresno offices offer legal aid, training and leadership development to immigrant communities.

But fear also makes it hard for people to sort bad information from good, and panic can lead folks to quickly share online posts without verifying them.

“Anxiety, fear, it spreads incredibly quickly,” Tran said. “When people send information out to these huge networks, it spreads far, wide and fast.”

So if you think you see ICE in your neighborhood or see ICE reported nearby on social media, advocates advise that you call them instead of circulating anything online.

Tran recommends you should first reach out to your local rapid response network — a coalition of volunteers, organizations and attorneys that work together to confirm ICE sightings and connect people who ICE has detained to legal representation. Santa Clara County’s own Rapid Response Network hotline can be reached at 408-290-1144.

Read more about verifying ICE rumors online — and how to not accidentally spread misinformation.

If I do see ICE in the Bay Area, can I film them?

“Taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right — and that includes police and other government officials carrying out their duties,” the ACLU said.

And while there’s no Supreme Court ruling on an unambiguous First Amendment right to film law enforcement officers, “all of the seven U.S. Federal Circuit Courts that have considered the issue have pretty much said there is a First Amendment right to record the police and observe the police,” criminal justice reporter C.J. Ciaramella at Reason told KQED’s Close All Tabs podcast this month.

Bystander videos also provide important counternarratives to official law enforcement accounts. After the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by ICE officers, Trump administration officials immediately claimed Pretti was a “domestic terrorist” intending to “massacre” officers — claims contradicted by the multiple eyewitness videos taken of the killing.

Officials with the Trump administration have, however, characterized filming ICE as “violence” and “doxing,” and Americans have faced detention from ICE after filming them.

So while recording ICE might be your constitutional right, it also brings increasing risks.

Read more about the logistics — and risks — of recording law enforcement officers like ICE agents.