With the Fifa World Cup just two weeks away, immigrant rights advocates in the 11 US host cities are mobilizing to protect fans and residents from immigration enforcement activities this summer.

In Los Angeles, a labor union representing more than 2,000 hospitality workers at SoFi Stadium is threatening to strike if agents do not stay away from the venue, which is expected to draw about 70,000 fans per match.

In Dallas, the civil rights group El Movimiento DFW is handing out hundreds of whistle kits – including information on how to obtain a free consultation with an immigration attorney – at churches, businesses and apartment complexes in case US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents begin detaining people near matches.

More than 120 civil society groups have even issued a travel warning to the 10 million potential visitors about “serious rights violations” under the current political climate, including “arbitrary denial of entry and risk of arrest, detention and/or deportation”.

The world’s largest sporting event, which kicks off on 11 June, arrives at a cataclysmic moment in the US: amid Donald Trump’s large-scale, aggressive immigration crackdown, at least 18 people have died this year in ICE custody and multiple US citizens have been killed. Immigration activists say they have received conflicting reports about the presence and role of ICE agents at the World Cup: Trump administration officials have not ruled out the possibility of arrests near the games, despite assurances from the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, that ICE would not operate inside stadiums.

“The Department of Homeland Security is working around the clock with federal, state, local and international partners to ensure a safe and secure environment for players, fans and communities hosting these events,” said Lauren Bis, the Department of Homeland Security acting assistant secretary. “The safety and security of the American people and the millions of visitors attending these events remain our highest priority.”

In response, organizers are staying vigilant on multiple fronts, bolstering rapid response networks and legal aid resources.

“We know that soccer is something many in the Latino immigrant community grew up playing or watching,” said Christine Bolaños, communications director at Workers Defense Action Fund, one of the signatories of a related advisory in Texas. “These games are meant to bring people together, and we want fans to know the risks and be prepared for encounters.”

Preparing to rapidly respond to ICE

Many of the grassroots efforts leading up to the event focus on responding to ICE agent raids, arrests and interactions in real time. After sustained pressure, police in Atlanta, Seattle and Los Angeles have announced they will not be cooperating with ICE in enforcement matters. Several Democratic lawmakers have introduced bills prohibiting ICE activity near matches – but they are stalled in the GOP-controlled House.

“When there’s a tenfold increase in the security apparatus, there’s a real risk that local residents – immigrants and non-immigrants – will be caught in the law enforcement dragnet,” said Jennifer Li, a leader of the national coalition Dignity 26.

In response, Li said she had been connecting experienced immigration attorneys with rapid response groups in host cities. With the World Cup approaching, she is working with the legal team behind Airport Lawyers to reboot a website created during the first Trump term to connect volunteer attorneys with foreign nationals affected by the travel ban. Separately, Li said she was coordinating with the Independent Supporters Council to launch a fan embassy and resource portal with workers’ rights information and immigration hotlines for fans and residents in host cities.

In Miami, which leads the country in immigration arrests, advocates are tapping into a rapid response network that activists say has been especially active over the past year, as local police increased collaboration with ICE. Ahead of the World Cup, organizers have been urging immigrant communities to report potential ICE activities to a hotline operated by the Florida Rapid Response Alliance for Immigrant Safety and Empowerment, a cohort of immigrant rights groups. The alliance also has a team of legal observers who are trained to document ICE presence.

“For us, those are two lifelines,” said Yareliz Mendez-Zamora, an organizer with the American Friends Service, one of the coalition partners. “These are scary times, but also beautiful times when we’re able to work and protect each other.”

Creating safe zones in host cities

For some immigrant and workers’ organizers in Seattle, which is expecting more than 750,000 visitors for the World Cup, the international spotlight is a chance to push their demands further.

CJ Garcia, the co-director of organizing at Working Washington, said she was worried that the Trump administration could use the event as a staging ground for ICE to “make an example of Seattle and other cities that have a history of supporting immigrants”.

The global stage, she said, “is an opportunity to announce our expectations as a society”.

Garcia said her organization canvassed more than 150 restaurants in Capitol Hill, which was just a few miles from where the games will be played, over the past couple of months, talking to owners and workers directly about what issues they anticipated and how they could support one another. In response to their concerns, the group has been providing fourth amendment training to service workers, covering their rights in public and private spaces, communication strategies in case of a crisis or emergency and best practices for how to respond should ICE try to detain a co-worker.

Working Washington is among dozens of non-profits, faith leaders and labor unions that joined the national “No ICE in the Cup” campaign earlier this month, which organizes ICE-free watch parties and youth soccer tournaments in all the host cities. Working Washington is co-hosting a kick-off party in Seattle on 11 June.

Another group involved in the campaign is West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, one of the city’s largest business associations. In late May, the organization launched a two-week canvassing drive to collect signatures from businesses – primarily restaurants, bars and nightlife establishments – pledging that they would serve as safe spaces for immigrants and provide critical resources about ICE enforcement. The goal is to bring at least 65 businesses onboard, said its president, Jabari Jones.

The group is also building a rapid response network of immigration attorneys who can be promptly deployed to businesses that get raided by ICE. For the business community, he said, limiting ICE presence at the World Cup is more an economic development issue than a political or ideological issue.

“If you don’t see, at bare minimum, tax revenues that match the investments, you’ve created a deficit that taxpayers are on the hook for,” Jones said. “All it takes is a few high-profile incidents of people getting detained to send a message to tourists that your area doesn’t support tourism.”