MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Every city participating in the World Cup this summer will need to release a human rights action plan. Now, this is a first for FIFA. It is meant to put host cities in charge of protecting the rights of vulnerable communities that may be affected by the event. You might remember that FIFA, soccer's global organizing body, was criticized for violating the human rights of construction workers in Qatar back during the 2022 World Cup. But so far, only a handful of the 16 host cities have made their human rights action plans public. One of them is Atlanta. But as Marlon Hyde from member station WABE reports, the plan may not be enough to protect immigrants during the World Cup.
MARLON HYDE, BYLINE: When Atlanta began crafting its strategy to protect the rights of people ahead of the World Cup, officials organized a get-together with community groups in the atrium of City Hall.
CANDACE STANCIEL: And we want to have a conversation tonight about what you want to see reflected in the plan as well as...
HYDE: Attendees brainstormed and wrote suggestions on colorful sticky notes, placing them on poster boards.
STANCIEL: Atlanta was very much excited to do ours, right? We believe this is our legacy.
HYDE: That's Atlanta's chief equity officer, Candace Stanciel, who oversaw the creation of the city's human rights plan.
STANCIEL: FIFA gave us a framework to respond to to try to create some alignment across all the cities participating in FIFA.
HYDE: That framework asks cities to protect the rights of their vulnerable communities. That includes local and migrant workers, and they must have a way to file grievances related to the FIFA World Cup. It starts in June and is being played in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Atlanta is hosting eight matches, including a semifinal. Atlanta's plan includes programming for LGBTQ people, more homeless outreach, fair pay for workers the city hires and the prevention of human trafficking.
MINKY WORDEN: Everyone had high hopes because the human rights requirements were baked in.
HYDE: That's Minky Worden with Human Rights Watch, which tracks FIFA human rights plans that cities are publishing. With the World Cup over a month away, they've only seen a handful and are disappointed.
WORDEN: None of these so-called human rights action plans even mentions the word ICE.
HYDE: Host cities must publish their plans before the first match begins. Toronto and Boston say they'll publish their plans in May. Other cities have not returned requests for publish dates, including Miami.
YARELIZ MENDEZ-ZAMORA: Miami leads nationwide in ICE arrests.
HYDE: Yareliz Mendez-Zamora is with the American Friends Service Committee, which works on immigration and justice issues in Miami. Without a plan for communities to see, she's concerned arrests of immigrants going to see soccer matches could increase.
MENDEZ-ZAMORA: It's an interesting feeling of having both hope and despair exist at the same time. I am so happy that, you know, people are excited about the games, and yet you can still feel the despair.
HYDE: It's not clear how a city could keep ICE arrests at bay during the World Cup. The city of Atlanta said in a statement that it is coordinating with the consulates of participating countries to support international visitors. Earlier this year, Mayor Andre Dickens said he has no control over ICE during the tournament.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANDRE DICKENS: So I can't predict what the federal government will attempt to do at 11 sites of World Cup matches across the United States. We hope that their presence will be small, unnoticeable, negligible, invisible and maybe nonexistent.
HYDE: Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch is calling on the federal government for an ICE truce, a moratorium on enforcement measures during the World Cup. For NPR News, I'm Marlon Hyde in Atlanta.
(SOUNDBITE OF RENAO SONG, "LIFELINE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.