ICE Will ‘Be All Over’ Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Says

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will have a significant presence at Super Bowl LX, where Bad Bunny is set to perform during the halftime show, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

In an interview with The Benny Show’s Benny Johnson, Noem, 53, confirmed that ICE agents will be stationed at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, next February for the NFL championship game.

The announcement follows controversy surrounding the Puerto Rican artist, who previously decided not to bring his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour to the United States due to concerns over the Trump administration’s use of ICE for immigration enforcement. Bad Bunny was officially announced as the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show performer in late September.

In a clip shared on X from The Benny Show on Oct. 3, Noem told host Benny Johnson that ICE will be present at the February 8 event because “the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for keeping it safe.”

“I have the responsibility to ensure that everyone attending the Super Bowl can enjoy it and return home safely — that’s what America is about,” Noem said.

“So yeah, we’ll be all over that place,” she added, emphasizing her intention to enforce federal law. “People should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they’re law-abiding Americans who love this country.”

When asked whether she had a message for the NFL, seemingly referring to its decision to feature Bad Bunny as the halftime act, Noem replied, “Well, they suck and we’ll win, and God will bless us and we’ll stand and be proud of ourselves at the end of the day. And they won’t be able to sleep at night, because they don’t know what they believe, and they’re so weak. We’ll fix it.”

Noem’s remarks came shortly after Corey Lewandowski, a senior adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 and 2024 campaigns who now supports the Department of Homeland Security, made similar comments on The Benny Show earlier in the week.

During the Oct. 1 episode, Johnson asked Lewandowski whether ICE would have enforcement operations at the Super Bowl during Bad Bunny’s performance. “There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” Lewandowski responded.

“Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you and apprehend you and put you in a detention facility and deport you,” he continued. “That is a very real situation under this administration, which is contrary to how it used to be.”

Bad Bunny, born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was confirmed as next year’s headlining act on Sept. 28. In a statement following the announcement, the 31-year-old performer said the show is “for my people, my culture, and our history.”

He later wrote on X, “I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States,” referencing his decision not to tour the country in recent years.

The “Yo Perreo Sola” singer previously explained his reasoning in a September i-D cover story, saying, “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. All of [the shows] have been successful. All of them have been magnificent.”

“I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos living in the U.S., but specifically, for a residency here in Puerto Rico, when we are an unincorporated territory of the U.S. … People from the U.S. could come here to see the show,” he said, adding that “Latinos and Puerto Ricans in the United States could also travel here, or anywhere in the world.”

“But there was the issue of — like, f—ing ICE could be outside [my concert],” he told i-D. “And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”