The 2026 FIFA World Cup and the United States' semiquincentennial celebrations have prompted federal and local authorities to build out one of the most extensive domestic surveillance networks in recent memory, raising concerns among civil liberties advocates that the infrastructure will outlast the summer's events.
Through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security channeled $250 million in grants to states hosting World Cup matches, much of which was directed toward counter-drone equipment, according to officials familiar with the program. The FBI has also been conducting training sessions with local law enforcement on drone mitigation techniques.
Both the Fourth of July fireworks on the National Mall and the July 19th World Cup final in New Jersey have been designated National Special Security Events by the Department of Homeland Security — the agency's most stringent security classification. The NSSE designation for the Fourth of July is a first for that event, though the Super Bowl has historically received the same designation.
Attendees at the National Mall celebration will be required to pass through airport-style security checkpoints, and are prohibited from bringing folding chairs or coolers. Counter-drone measures, bomb technicians, countersnipers, and medical personnel from multiple federal agencies will also be on the ground.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House task force for the World Cup, confirmed that heightened security will be present at all World Cup matches, not only those attended by President Donald Trump. "You'll have multiple perimeter checks from security. You'll have checks while you get onto public transportation to make sure you're a valid ticket holder," Giuliani told the Atlantic Council's Frederick Kempe.
Giuliani added that Fan Fests in all 11 host cities will be covered by counter-drone technology, though officials have not clarified whether the systems are identical to those connected to an airspace closure in El Paso earlier this year.
New York City spent $6.5 million on counter-drone technology alone. In Kansas City, Missouri, authorities have confiscated at least 16 drones since the World Cup began. The city also moved forward with a program placing cameras equipped with facial recognition on some city buses, despite the state government declining to fund it over privacy concerns. City officials said images are checked against active missing persons alerts and retained only when a match is found.
Anne Toomey McKenna, an attorney specializing in privacy and biometric surveillance, said the NSSE designation may also make it easier for authorities to justify collecting communications data under the comparatively looser standards of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, rather than under the stricter requirements of the Wiretap Act.
Jules Boykoff, author of "Red Card: The 2026 World Cup, Sportswashing, and the FIFA Greed Machine" and a professor of political science at Pacific University, said the pattern is a familiar one. "The general rule with the World Cup and Olympics is that local and national police forces use the sports mega event like their own private cash machine," Boykoff told The Verge. "The World Cup creates a state of exception that allows for all manner of securitization processes."
Boykoff also noted the possibility of an increased ICE presence at the World Cup final, pointing to the arrest of rapper 21 Savage at the 2019 Super Bowl — also an NSSE event — as a precedent for immigration enforcement activity at such gatherings.
The persistence of post-event surveillance infrastructure is a documented concern. France enabled AI-assisted video surveillance ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics and has kept it active through at least the end of 2027, despite ongoing privacy objections. Privacy advocates warn the United States could follow a similar trajectory, with camera networks and counter-drone systems remaining operational in cities long after the final whistle.
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