A bipartisan group of Congressional representatives are calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to streamline the federal government’s visa processing system to make sure guests from overseas will be capable to attend subsequent yr’s FIFA World Cup in addition to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The World Cup, which kicks off in lower than 400 days, is anticipated to generate $3.75 billion in financial exercise within the U.S. With SoFi Stadium in Inglewood internet hosting eight video games, the financial affect on Southern California is estimated at almost $600 million.
However cost-cutting measures proposed by Rubio may threaten that by decreasing workers and shutting some embassies and consulates, rising visa wait occasions and making an already cumbersome system extra difficult and dear. That might maintain tens of hundreds of followers at house.
Even with out the modifications, six international locations have at the least one U.S. diplomatic publish with visa wait occasions that reach past the beginning of the World Cup.
Rubio is scheduled to look Wednesday earlier than the Home Overseas Affairs Committee the place he will likely be requested in regards to the visa course of, mentioned Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles). Kamlager-Dove, a member of that committee and a proponent of sports activities diplomacy, laid out her considerations and people of her colleagues in two-page letter addressed to Rubio and signed by 52 representatives, together with Rep. Younger Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), the primary Republican to signal on; Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), chairman of the Home Appropriations Committee; and Ted Lieu (D-Manhattan Seaside), a member of Democratic Home management.
“I’m hoping to get some answers and some solutions,” mentioned Kamlager-Dove, whose sprawling districts ranges from the border with Beverly Hills to South Los Angeles. “This is a real problem because it impacts attendance and it impacts economic activity.”
The 2026 World Cup would be the largest in historical past, with a file 48 international locations taking part. It can even be the primary World Cup performed in three international locations, with Mexico and Canada sharing host duties with the U.S. Nonetheless the overwhelming majority of the video games — 78 of 104 — will likely be performed in 11 U.S. cities between June 11 and July 19, 2026.
“The economic stakes of these games and significant for red and blue districts nationwide, as is the diplomatic and soft-power opportunity of being at the center of the international sports universe,” Kamlager-Dove wrote in her letter. “However the success of these games hinges on the State Department’s ability to efficiently process the visa applications of spectators, athletes and media.”
Kamlager-Dove believes the chance is just too vital to be sacrificed to politics.
“The United States has an obligation to put its best foot forward as the host of these games,” she mentioned. “Sports diplomacy is an important tool for us as we continue to talk about peace and cooperation. It’s also so important as we recognize all of the different ethnic communities that help make up the United States and want to root for their home team.
“And so you want restaurants to be full, clubs and bars to be full, hotels to be full.”
Earlier this month President Trump held the primary assembly of a White Home process drive charged with overseeing what the president referred to as “the biggest, safest and most extraordinary soccer tournament in history.” However the administration has despatched combined indicators over precisely how welcoming it intends to be.
At that assembly attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Vice President JD Vance — co-chair of the duty drive — mentioned the U.S. needs overseas guests “to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games. But when the time is up we want them to go home, otherwise they will have to talk to Secretary Noem.” He referred to Homeland Safety secretary Kristi Noem, whose company has detained and interrogated visa holders at U.S. factors of entry.
“Staff the State Department to focus on them. Accelerate and streamline these processes and prioritize diplomacy. Because the games are diplomatic.”
