ICE plans to be camped out at the Super Bowl looking for migrants hoping to attend the game

ICE will carry out immigration enforcement operations at next month’s Super Bowl LX as scheduled and has no plans to change its approach despite growing public opposition inspired by events in Minnesota, the Department of Homeland Security has said.

The NFL championship game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday, February 8.

It comes against the backdrop of increasing unrest in reaction to President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants after two U.S. citizens were shot dead by federal forces in Minneapolis.

Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Independent: “The DHS is committed to working with our local and federal partners to ensure the Super Bowl is safe for everyone involved, as we do with every major sporting event, including the World Cup.

“Our mission remains unchanged. We will not disclose future operations or discuss personnel. Super Bowl security will entail a whole of government response conducted in-line with the U.S. Constitution.

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“Those who are here legally and are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear.”

The Independent has reached out to the White House and ICE for further comment, as well as the offices of California Democrats Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi and Ro Khanna.

Tickets for the big game at the 68,500-capacity stadium were originally priced from $950 to $8,500, according to Bleacher Report, but the cheapest tickets currently available on the resale market are going for approximately $6,000.

Many more fans are expected to descend on Santa Clara for the occasion; however, New Orleans estimates that around 125,000 people arrived for Super Bowl LIX last year.

Trump’s immigration forces have been active in California since last year and moved into Downtown Los Angeles in June, where they were met with widespread protests, compelling the president to federalize the state’s National Guard to help keep the peace, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass warning that the escalation risked inflaming the situation.

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Trump’s crackdown has only grown more contentious since then, with Operation Midway Blitz met with resistance in Chicago, and now the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis are turning the temperature up even further.

With the tide of public opinion turning against the administration’s deportation push – not least after both killings were caught on video from multiple angles, contradicting the official version of events – the president has been forced to act.

On Monday, Trump moved to place border czar Tom Homan in charge of the 3,000 federal agents sent into Minneapolis, sending Customs and Border Protection Commander Greg Bovino back to California, and staging late-night crisis talks with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

He also held calls with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday, pledging a new spirit of cooperation.

Both officials had spent weeks complaining about ICE and other immigration forces “terrorizing” their citizens and urging them to leave, which saw the Department of Justice hit back aggressively by opening an investigation into them, accusing the pair of obstructing federal law enforcement.