U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be present at the 2026 Super Bowl and Grammy-winning rapper Bad Bunny’s halftime show, longtime Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski warned.
Lewandowski, who serves as an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security as a special government employee, confirmed the news days after it was announced that Bad Bunny would be the halftime show performer.
During an appearance on The Benny Show on Wednesday, Lewandowski was asked by podcast host Benny Johnson if “ICE will have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny halftime show.”
“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you,” Lewandowski said.
“So know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is contrary to how it used to be.”
Lewandowski went on to criticize the NFL for selecting Bad Bunny as the halftime show performer.
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“It’s so shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime show,” Lewandowski said about the three-time Grammy Award-winning performer.
He told Johnson that the NFL should “be trying to be inclusive, not exclusive.”
“There are plenty of great bands and entertainment people who could be playing at that show that would be bringing people together and not separating them,” Lewandowski said.
“If there are illegal aliens, I don’t care if it’s a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else, we’re going to do enforcement everywhere. We are going to make Americans safe. That is a directive from the president.
“If you’re in this country illegally, do yourself a favour, go home. We’ll buy you the plane ticket. Get out of the country and you’ll have a chance to come back legally,” he added.
The NFL, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that Bad Bunny will lead the halftime festivities from Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif.
The Puerto Rican superstar’s selection comes amid another career-defining run: He’s fresh off a historic Puerto Rico residency this month that drew more than half a million fans and is leading all nominees at the Latin Grammys in November. He has become one of the world’s most streamed artists with albums such as Un Verano Sin Ti, a Spanish-language LP.
In an interview with I-D last month, Bad Bunny explained that part of the reason he did his Puerto Rico residency and won’t tour in the U.S. this year was because “f—ing ICE could be outside (my concert). And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
“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,” he added.
“All of (the shows) have been successful. All of them have been magnificent. I’ve enjoyed connecting with Latinos who have been 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.”
— With files from The Associated Press
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