Father of three seized by ICE at FIFA match last summer warns immigrant fans of danger

It was supposed to be a joyful day with their father but in a matter of seconds that summer afternoon turned into a nightmare, which resulted in their family being wrenched apart.

That afternoon in July 2025, Manuel* drove to the stadium in East Rutherford, in New Jersey, with two of his sons, ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup Final between PSG and Chelsea. He wanted to capture that moment forever, so after pulling up in the parking lot, he got out his recreational drone to take a photo.

The president’s security detail

He could not get the drone up. “The truth is that when I tried to fly it, there was a red dot - the airspace was jammed - so my drone didn’t work,” Manuel had no idea it was a no-fly zone. In a matter of seconds, police surrounded him.

US President Donald Trump was in attendance and security was tight.

Manuel was taken away to an office inside the stadium, “They told me they were from the president’s secret service detail.”

He had no time to say goodbye to his sons.

“They wouldn’t let me get close to him, they pushed me like this,” his son Santiago* remembered, shoving out his arms to illustrate the gesture, trying hard not to let tears break through as he relived the trauma of that day that he has carried with him now for almost a year, “It made us feel sad and bad.”

‘I didn’t do anything wrong’

Manuel was bundled into a van and taken to an office in Metlife Stadium. Police initially told him he would just get a fine for a minor infraction. But then they checked his immigration status.

“They said my asylum case had been closed a month prior and that they were going to take me into custody. A woman, who said she was from the FBI, handed me over to ICE.”

Manuel had entered the United States in 2022 as an asylum seeker but, unbeknownst to him, his application had been cancelled just a month before the match at Metlife due to new rules imposed by the Trump administration.

“We did not get a letter, an email or a warning from our lawyer. Nothing.” his wife Maria explained. She keeps a meticulously organised file of all the family’s immigration documents in a folder at home.

“They did not let him call his lawyer, they did not allow him due process. They made him to sign a document he didn’t understand,” said Maria.

“I pleaded with them,” Manuel said. “I told them that I didn’t do anything wrong”.

Manuel’s experience is not isolated. Human Rights Watch has tried to raise awareness of the dangers immigrant fans could face amidst heightened security during the World Cup.

“Security arrangements to make sure the World Cup is safe are fine. But what people are worried about is actually ICE separating families, about security arrangements that don't make people safer, but might target fans on the basis of their status as an immigrant or an asylum seeker,” said Minky Worden, Human Rights Watch's Director of Global Initiatives.

Human Rights Watch documented 167,000 arrests in the 11 World Cup host cities between January and March this year.

“The real problem is the intersection of the love that immigrants have for football with this incredibly abusive security apparatus.” she explained, “Fans around the world have seen how ICE killed US citizens, the midnight knocks on the door separating children, screaming and crying from the parents.”

‘Medical neglect, spoiled or inadequate food’

Manuel was sent to Delaney Hall, a detention centre run by The GEO Group in Newark, New Jersey. He stayed there for 11 weeks.

This centre has since been highly scrutinised.  For the past month, protesters have gathered nightly outside Delaney Hall to protest conditions faced by detainees.

The American Civil Liberties Union published an open letter in May, signed by nearly 300 people, which highlights “medical neglect, spoiled or inadequate food, and other torturous conditions at the facility.”

Some detainees began a hunger strike on 22 May to bring attention to their inhumane treatment.

Manuel told FRANCE 24 that some of the guards appeared to be "drunk or on drugs" and at times would serve food that was so cold that “it was like eating an ice-cream rather than a hot meal.”

He is now in hiding in a Latin American country. His wife Maria explained that they originally fled the continent to seek refuge in the United States after being pursued by an armed group that threatened to kill them.

‘I miss everything about him’

Meanwhile, Manuel's family is trying to cope without him in the United States.

Every day after school, they speak to him over Facetime.

“I miss everything about him,” Sebastián confides, lowering his eyes and smiling shyly. “He used to cook with us, joke with us and play with us.”

Both of the older boys dote on their younger sibling Julio, who has autism.

At night, Manuel sings children’s folk song “Los Pollitos” to Julio, as he buries his head in his mother’s neck, his legs and bare feet wrapped around her waist.

‘Your son’s behaviour at school has suddenly changed’

Shortly after Manuel was taken, Santiago’s teacher wrote to his mother, “Your son’s behaviour at school has suddenly changed. He used to come to class happy and eager to learn, but this past week he’s changed. He’s always in a bad mood and has lost interest in everything. I hope all is well at home.”

Maria is trying to hold the family together and keep her boys strong. They pray daily around a small shrine with a bible, a statue of Jesus, soccer trophies and a world’s best father award.

They always read the same psalm, number 91; “You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness.”

“It’s about family”, Maria explains, “and finding refuge in dark times”. She also misses her husband. They have been together since middle school.

Señor Presidente Donald J Trump

Maria has written a letter to Donald Trump.

“We understand, Mr. President, your concerns about securing the United States and we respect your efforts to protect this nation and its citizens. As parents we ask you to consider our situation with compassion. Please let our family be together again. Please let our family be safe. We are just humans who, like you, love their family and want to live in peace and safety.”

Manuel has some advice for other immigrant fans.

“If I were in the US right now and had a ticket to a World Cup match I would not go because it’s so dangerous, you don’t know what can happen. They can detain you on your way there, in the parking lot, the stadium. They may be waiting for you right there and there’s no way of even knowing that they are ICE because they could be wearing civilian clothes. I wouldn’t take the risk.”

FRANCE 24 contacted New Jersey State Police and FIFA for comment but neither responded to our requests before publication.

*Names have been changed to protect the family's identity.