WASHINGTON — In February 2025, Nellie Pou and other members of a House Homeland Security Committee task force on high-profile public events were in New Orleans where the Super Bowl, the nation’s biggest single-day sporting event, was about to be played.
In the months since, Pou, a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 9th congressional district, has thought a lot about massive gatherings in preparation for Earth’s biggest sporting event: the men’s FIFA World Cup.
“We’re now talking about a much larger event,” Pou said in a recent interview with NJ Spotlight News in her congressional office, adding that the soccer tournament is projected to bring in $3 billion in revenue. “Super big deal in my district. In Paterson, huge deal.”
Consider these numbers: About 126 million people watched the 2025 Super Bowl. Viewership for the World Cup final in 2022, between Argentina and France? That’s 1.5 billion.
A first-term member of Congress, Pou has emerged as a point person on Capitol Hill on the tournament and the myriad to-do items and potential pitfalls for the weeks-long soccer event, from June 11 -July 19 across Canada, Mexico and the U.S. That includes East Rutherford, home to MetLife Stadium in the congresswoman’s district, which is scheduled to host eight matches including the final.
‘My biggest criticism’
In a new expanded format, 48 teams will compete after FIFA, the sport’s international governing body, approved a bigger tournament than previous World Cups.
Two months before the first ball is kicked, immigration, funding, security and transportation are all significant issues to Pou.
Congress allocated $625 million to the 11 U.S. host cities for security through a Republican budget bill that became law in summer 2025. That money was released on March 18, drawing criticism from lawmakers, including Pou, who called the administration’s delay in releasing that funding “my biggest criticism.”
Cities are buying special equipment, figuring out logistics and coordinating security, Pou said in a March interview. “All of those things are important,” Pou said. “I want nothing but for everyone to be safe.”
Congress approved a separate portion of federal funding for transit agencies impacted by the World Cup as part of a recent appropriations package. It’s unclear when or to whom that money will be distributed.
“We do not know what that overall cost will be,” Pou said.
“I’m not sure that every last dollar that’s been committed to New Jersey has actually hit New Jersey yet,” said Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10th) in an interview with NJ Spotlight News.
During a February hearing, Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency that has spearheaded the Trump administration’s detention and mass deportation strategy, said ICE agents would attend World Cup matches.
“We’re dedicated to securing that operation and we’re dedicated to the security of all our participants as well as visitors,” Lyons said. “ICE is dedicated to ensuring that everyone that visits the facilities will have a safe and secure event.”
No-ICE zone
After that hearing, Pou introduced legislation to block immigration enforcement agents from conducting raids within a mile of World Cup matches or fan events this summer. The legislation will almost certainly not get a vote in the House, where Republicans hold the majority, let alone become law.
“My biggest concern is that we not create a situation where the World Cup event, particularly during this final, that they not create problems,” Pou said.
McIver, who signed on to the bill, said she wouldn’t be surprised if ICE targets people at soccer matches. “They’re just cruel,” McIver said. “They just want to create havoc.”
McIver faces federal assault charges stemming from her involvement in a scuffle outside Delaney Hall, an immigrant detention center in Newark, and could spend 17 years in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty and described the case as a political move the Trump administration orchestrated.
On Monday her legal team asked an appeals court to throw out the case. The government has 30 days to respond.
“They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job,” McIver said in June, when she entered her plea. The House narrowly to table a resolution in September to censure McIver from her involvement in the Delaney Hall incident.
The tournament will serve as a dress rehearsal for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. Further complicating security and pressure on host cities and states is the series of national events linked with America 250, officially commemorated on Independence Day, that will include New Jersey.
Tricky mass transit
Those are all events that Pou’s task force has examined in recent months. Pou said leaders in her district worry that police and other first responders could be stretched thin during the tournament.
“They can’t just leave their own town unsecured,” she said of police departments. It’s unclear, she said, how city, county and state agencies and departments could be reimbursed for their services during the matches.
“Point being that more manpower is needed, to pay for overtime, to pay for their additional resources, transportation,” Pou said.
New York City area airports will be slammed, Pou said. ”Flying in, our airports are going to be super busy.”
She and her colleagues have looked for lessons in the aftermaths of horrific events, like the terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day 2025 and the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Some of their work has been conducted at public hearings, other segments behind closed doors.
Invoking Super Bowl 48, hosted at MetLife, where there were far too many fans for buses and trains, Pou said: “Mass transportation is a lot more difficult, is what I’ve learned.”
