As Angelenos gird ourselves for the arrival of the FIFA World Cup and the federal security it brings with it, NOlympicsLA stands with the workers who bear the brunt of the risk that comes with hosting mega-events. We stand with the workers who keep this city running, including those in informal economies who face federal forces head on.
Local street vendors are the stated targets of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations, which are tasked with seizing “counterfeit sports merchandise” and punishing those selling it. Feds and local police departments go full Chicken Little: they falsely claim sex trafficking increases during mega-events while demanding massive investment in law enforcement, which they promptly spend harassing local sex workers while doing nothing about those connected to actual human trafficking, like LA28 chair and Epstein pal Casey Wasserman.
Small businesses near venues see decreases in business income during big events. The businesses that sign contracts to support these mega-events often end up broke afterwards, like in 1984. Short-term gains for a small slice of workers will never justify additional ICE presence in our communities. Requiring ICE officers to stay away from venues does not remove them from our communities and it does not bring back loved ones like Keith Porter Jr, Alex Pretti, and Renee Good.
There is no version of the World Cup or the Olympics that is good for working people of all walks. Angelenos deserve leadership that is not beholden to Trump (or Biden)’s administration for money to support hosting the same mega-events Trump is using to wash his image while the US regime commits atrocities against our fellow workers in Iran, Palestine, Yemen, Venezuela, Cuba, Nigeria, the Congo, Somalia, the Caribbean, and everywhere else the US drops bombs.
Abolish ICE
Abolish FIFA
Abolish the Olympics