{"id":355001,"date":"2026-06-10T18:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355001\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:05:14","slug":"un-human-rights-chief-urges-rethink-of-us-immigration-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355001\/","title":{"rendered":"UN human rights chief urges ‘rethink’ of US immigration policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By GRAHAM DUNBAR, AP Sports Writer<\/p>\n

GENEVA (AP) \u2014 The United Nations\u2019 top human rights official called Wednesday for a \u201cmassive rethink\u201d of immigration policies especially in the United States around the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Issues around \u201cracial profiling, surveillance and immigration enforcement\u201d were cited by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker T\u00fcrk even before the 48-nation, 39-day tournament starts Thursday.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s team<\/a> was moved from a training camp in Arizona to Mexico, some Iranian officials were denied U.S. entry visas, Africa\u2019s top referee from Somalia<\/a> was refused entry in Miami and images circulated of a Senegal player being frisked by a security guard on airport tarmac.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen some of the scenes,\u201d T\u00fcrk told reporters at a briefing at the U.N.\u2019s human rights agency headquarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that the issues around racial profiling, around surveillance, around immigration enforcement are not going to affect this World Cup in the way that they have already done,\u201d the Austrian lawyer said.<\/p>\n

The U.S. is hosting most of the 104 games in a shared project with Canada and Mexico, though it is only the policies of federal agencies under U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration that have drawn criticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really hope that there is a massive rethink of how immigration enforcement is respecting human rights and human dignity,\u201d T\u00fcrk said, \u201cand that especially for the World Cup there is a rethink of the policies that we are unfortunately seeing prevailing especially in the U.S. at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

T\u00fcrk said global sports should be \u201cwhere the world comes together in unity and in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that the environment in which mega sport events including the World Cup take place need to provide a dignified and safe environment, for the teams that compete but also for the supporters, for the whole society and frankly for the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fans from countries like Morocco and Scotland, who spent thousands of dollars on flights, hotels and tickets for the most expensive World Cup ever<\/a>, have reported having their travel documents denied or revoked just days before they were due to travel.<\/p>\n

FIFA\u2019s bidding rules in 2017<\/a> for nations wanting to host this World Cup stated visa processing \u201cmust be applied in a non-discriminatory manner,\u201d with the caveat it must not \u201cadversely affect the national immigration and security standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Referee<\/p>\n

Referee Omar Artan, center, who was denied entry to the United States, is welcomed by supporters upon his arrival in Mogadishu, Somalia, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Farah Abdi Warsameh)\n<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

FILE \u2013 President Donald Trump shakes hands with FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he presented with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize during the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center, Dec. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci, File)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/p>\n

Fans for team Iran wave as players arrive for the World Cup soccer tournament in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gregory Bull)\n<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/p>\n

Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu takes a picture with fans after a training session Monday, June 8, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn., ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo\/George Walker IV)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

Referee Omar Artan, center, who was denied entry to the United States, is welcomed by supporters upon his arrival in Mogadishu, Somalia, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Farah Abdi Warsameh)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nUS links referee to terror groups<\/p>\n

In the case of Somali referee Omar Artan, a U.S. official said he was refused admission due to \u201cassociation with suspected members of terror organizations,\u201d though without specifying details or providing proof.<\/p>\n

FIFA was unable to protect the referee it picked for World Cup duty despite its president Gianni Infantino<\/a> building closer ties to Trump and administration officials in the past 18 months.<\/p>\n

FIFA also has aligned itself with UN guiding principles<\/a> on business and human rights that it pledged should be respected at its tournaments.<\/p>\n

T\u00fcrk highlighted a wider point about the treatment of people worldwide moving between different nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also hope that the dehumanization of the other, the dehumanization of migrants, the dehumanization of refugees and asylum seekers is put to an end,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody benefits from divisive and polarizing narratives.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By GRAHAM DUNBAR, AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) \u2014 The United Nations\u2019 top human rights official called Wednesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[536,74,76,75,52732,144783,115470,5393],"class_list":["post-355001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-donald-trump","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-un","tag-un-human-rights-chief","tag-us-immigration-policy","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}