Federal immigration agents will touch down at Santa Clara, California, for the 2026 Super Bowl, says a top Trump administration adviser following conservative backlash over the selection of Bad Bunny as halftime performer.
“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,” a former Trump campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told podcast host Benny Johnson during an interview on “The Benny Show.”
“We will find you, we will apprehend you, we will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you,” Mr. Lewandowski said. “So know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is completely contrary to how it used to be.”
Before being named as the 2026 Super Bowl halftime performer, the Puerto Rican rapper announced that his upcoming world tour would exclude America because of the Trump administration’s recent mass deportations, largely targeting Latinos.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate — I’ve performed there many times,” Bad Bunny said, according to a report from Rolling Stone.
“But there was the issue of — like, f—— ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Mr. Lewandowski condemned the selection of Bad Bunny as “shameful,” claiming the wildly popular artist appears to “hate America.”
“If there are illegal aliens, I don’t care if it’s a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else, we’re going to do enforcement everywhere because we are going to make Americans safe,” said Mr. Lewandowski. “That is a directive from the president. If you’re in this country illegally, do yourself a favor: Go home.”
Last week’s announcement that Bad Bunny had being selected to perform drew a swift backlash from MAGA supporters and other conservatives.
“Is it that hard to pick a unifying music act who doesn’t want to peddle woke propaganda?” asked a conservative commentator and former music director, Robby Starbuck, on X. “Does this guy really scream American football to anyone?”
“This isn’t about music. It’s about putting a guy on stage who hates Trump and MAGA.”