Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the NFL will not be “able to sleep at night” over its decision to pick Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny as the 2026 halftime performer.
“Well, they suck, and we’ll win, and God will bless us, and we’ll stand and be proud of ourselves at the end of the day, and they won’t be able to sleep at night because they don’t know what they believe, and they’re so weak, we’ll fix it,” Noem told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson on Friday.
Noem reaffirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be at the Super Bowl, scheduled to take place in February in Santa Clara, Calif.
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“There will be because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for keeping it safe, so I have the responsibility for making sure everybody goes to the Super Bowl, has the opportunity to enjoy it and to leave, and that’s what America is about,” Noem said on Friday.
“So yeah, we’ll be all over that place, and I can. We’re going to enforce the law,” DHS chief added. “So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless there are law-abiding Americans who love this country.”
The NFL has faced blowback from conservative commentators and MAGA influencers over its decision to select Bad Bunny as the halftime headliner. The Puerto Rican artist said in an interview with i-D Magazine that he would not perform in mainland U.S. over concerns his concerts could be the target of ICE raids.
Earlier on Friday, the White House said there was “no tangible plan” to deploy ICE officers to the Super Bowl.
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“As far as ICE being at the Super Bowl, as far as I’m aware there’s no tangible plan for that in store right now,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “However, of course this administration is always going to arrest and deport illegal immigrants when we find them if they are criminals. We’re going to do the right thing by our country.”
Corey Lewandowski, an adviser at DHS, indicated on Wednesday, while on “The Benny Show” that ICE raids will not be absent from the Super Bowl
“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,” Lewandowski said.
