ATLANTA — As millions of fans enthusiastically follow the 2026 FIFA World Cup, undocumented immigrants in Georgia — which will host eight matches — fear the increased spotlight also exposes them to greater vulnerability of being detained.
With the sport’s deep roots in Latin America, that fear is prompting many Latino immigrants to find ways to participate while minimizing their risks.
Marcela (we are not using her real name because she is undocumented) is originally from Ecuador. The mother of two children, ages four and eight, she says she plans to watch the games from the safety of her own home.
“In my family, we used to watch matches in public places. We can’t do that anymore. We no longer have that freedom,” she said. “We’re afraid because we’ve seen so many things happen.”
While Ecuador’s team is not scheduled to play in Georgia during the tournament, Marcela says that initially didn’t dampen her enthusiasm.
“At first, we thought about buying tickets because it’s happening right here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but because of the fear, we’ve decided to set everything up at home — our TV, popcorn, food,” she added.
‘Retreating inward’
Marcela spoke as her children attended a soccer camp for Latino youth organized by the Latino Community Fund (LCF) Georgia, an organization dedicated to investing in, strengthening and advocating for Latino families in Georgia. LCF has operated the camp over the past four years at Honeysuckle Park, located in a historically Latino area of Doraville, about 15 miles northeast of metro Atlanta.
For many parents the camp has become much more than a recreational activity.
“We’re living in a reality where families question whether it’s necessary to go out at all,” noted Pedro Viloria, LCF’s director of community impact. “We are definitely seeing a community retreating inward. People don’t want to go out, and when they do, they do it strategically — to buy groceries or take their children to school. Some are even avoiding doctor visits.”
According to Viloria, that sense of insecurity highlights the need for organizations like LCT to bring services and activities to impacted communities where they are. Pointing to the families at the camp, he said most live in the immediate vicinity.
“There are many people who literally walk from their homes to the park. That’s the idea — not for people to come to us, but for us to go to them and bring that joy, that celebration and that sense of protection to where they are,” he said.
‘We’ve been targeted’
Georgia ranks among U.S. states with the highest number of detained immigrants in the country (Texas, Louisiana and California are the top three), according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonpartisan research center at Syracuse University.
And while Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told CBS News recently that immigration enforcement operations would not be conducted at World Cup sporting events, he stopped short of guaranteeing that ICE would not arrest immigrants during the tournament.
Aceli Zenil, a community leader with the non-profit Amigos de la Comunidad (Friends of the Community), says that reality has transformed how families navigate daily life and experience major events such as the World Cup.
“Every day people are being taken away — people who have families, people who were studying, people who weren’t doing anything wrong,” Zenil said. “It has had a major impact on the community and has increased the number of people asking for food and diapers for their children because the father is in immigration custody, or the mother is, or both.”
ICE data shows the US deported 442,637 immigrants during fiscal year 2025. The agency does not break down those figures by state.
“We’re not experiencing this World Cup the way we would like to because we’re afraid to go places,” said Araceli Barrientos, whose children attend the LCF soccer camp and who also volunteers with the organization. “There are threats, and we don’t know whether they’re real — whether people could be stopped and asked about their immigration status. The fear extends even to going to work.”
She added, “It’s unfortunate because our community could have brought more business and revenue, but instead we’ve been targeted.”
‘It helps us forget’
Barrientos, who was born in Mexico and comes from a soccer-loving family, says she plans to attend some World Cup-related activities in downtown Atlanta while taking precautions. She refuses to live in fear and does not want to pass that fear on to her children, ages 18, 11 and 4.
“I drive as little as possible,” she said, adding she and her husband often avoid venturing out together. “We don’t want both of us to be at risk at the same time. It’s very sad what’s happening.”
As she watched her children run freely across the soccer field, Adriana (we are not using her real name because she is undocumented) enjoyed a brief pause from her daily worries.
“It’s beautiful because it helps us forget, even for a little while, what we’re currently going through. We’re treated as if we were something terrible,” she said. “But being here and talking with other people helps us forget for a moment. Then the activities end, and we return to reality.”
Adriana, originally from Guatemala, explained that while people have not stopped celebrating, gatherings have become much smaller and more private.
“Before, people celebrated outdoors. Families would bring tables outside their homes and gather together. Now, out of fear, people stay indoors,” she said.
That fear is also being felt by the kids, says Marcela, no matter what parents do to try to shield them.
“In my apartment complex, police cars are always driving around, and my children say those officers are there to arrest immigrants. Whenever they see a patrol car while we’re driving, they tell me, ‘Mom, I’m wearing my seatbelt,’” she said.
A ‘spirit of celebration’
Still, in the midst of an international sporting event that ostensibly celebrates diversity global sportsmanship, immigrants need to remember that they, too, belong, Viloria insisted.
“Maybe the celebration won’t happen inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but we’ll gather at home or in spaces designed for our community,” he said.
Viloria added those spaces are intended to minimize long trips and dependence on cars, while creating places where Spanish is spoken and community members can organize and support one another.
For Viloria, the challenge is finding a balance between caution and the opportunity to enjoy a historic moment.
“I hope our community maintains that spirit of celebration around this event that means so much to us,” he noted. “What a privilege it is to witness a FIFA World Cup in our own backyard and be part of the festivities.”
Johanes Rosello is a freelance journalist in Atlanta, where she has covered the city’s burgeoning Latino community for outlets including Mundo Hispano, CNN and Telemundo, among others.
I really enjoyed this article. My roots are Mexican and I can relate to the article