In late September 2025, the NFL announced that Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny (whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) would be performing at the 2026 Super Bowl.
In response, many people online claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump's advisor Corey Lewandowski said ICE agents would be present at the Super Bowl. Bad Bunny has been critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the past, saying he did not include the U.S. in his latest tour out of fear of ICE conducting raids at his concerts.
Lewandowski says ICE will be at the Super Bowl for Bad Bunny's halftime show.
Lewandowski: There is nowhere that 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.
The NFL has been so woke for so many years, they finally decided to make a comeback. But it's so shameful that they've decided to pick somebody who just seems to hate America so much to represent them at the halftime game.
Benny Johnson: Corey is saying that there's going to be ICE enforcement at the Bad Bunny concert at the Super Bowl.
Lewandowski did say the above words, stating there would be no "safe haven" for people in the country illegally, including at the Super Bowl. As such, we rate this claim as a correct attribution.
On Oct. 1, 2025, Lewandowski appeared on conservative podcaster Benny Johnson's show. Johnson asked him, "Will ICE have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show?" Lewandowski said (starting at 7:34):
There is nowhere you that 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. So know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is completely contrary to how it used to be.
[…]
We should be trying to be inclusive and not exclusive. There are plenty of great bands and entertainment people out there who could be playing at that show that would be bringing people together and not separating them.
[…]
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 because we are going to make Americans safe. That is a directive from the president. And if you're in this country illegally, do yourself a favor. Go home.
In June 2025, Trump appointed Lewandowski to the Homeland Security Advisory Council where he would act as chief adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Lewandowski worked on Trump's campaign for both the 2016 and 2024 elections.
In a September 2025 interview, Bad Bunny said he was doing a residency in Puerto Rico and touring the world but would not go to the mainland U.S. because of his concerns about ICE targeting his fans. Per the interview:
Q: You said you wouldn't be giving any concerts in the United States. Was this out of concern about [the mass deportations of] Latinos in the United States?
A: Man, honestly, yes. There were many reasons why I didn't show up in the US, 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 who have been living in the US But specifically, for a residency here in Puerto Rico, when we are an unincorporated territory of the US… People from the US could come here to see the show. Latinos and Puerto Ricans of the United States could also travel here, or to any part of the world. But there was the issue of—like, f***ing ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it's something that we were talking about and very concerned about.
Lewandowski did not specify where exactly ICE would be during the concert and how they would be carrying out enforcement actions.
We have previously covered numerous rumors about ICE and immigration authorities after Trump enacted sweeping policies aimed at removing or barring noncitizens, particularly those without legal authorization, from the country.