Illegal immigrants storm border, then soccer game

On March 24, 2022, Elkin Mayorga, a migrant from Colombia, illegally crossed the southern border and was arrested by Border Patrol near Yuma, Arizona. As was President Joe Biden ’s policy at the time , instead of being detained or returned to Mexico, Mayorga was enrolled in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Alternatives to Detention program, the same program Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) wants to use to release all migrants into the country.

As part of ICE’s ATD program, Mayorga was fitted with an ankle bracelet, a device he still should be wearing today. Except Mayorga removed the bracelet just a month after being released into the country and, as is Biden’s policy, ICE then did nothing to track him down.

Then on Sunday, July 13, 2024, Mayorga again found himself outside a place he had no right to be in. This time it was Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, where at 8 p.m. that evening, Mayorga’s home nation of Colombia was facing off against Argentina in the Copa America final.

Unable to secure legal entrance into the stadium, Mayorga treated Hard Rock Stadium the same way he treated the borders of the United States. He jumped the turnstiles and attempted to watch the game without paying. Confronted by police, Mayorga attempted to assault arresting officers before he was taken into custody. He has since been charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, trespassing, disorderly intoxication, and resisting an officer with violence.

Mayorga’s story wouldn’t be noteworthy except for the fact that there were hundreds of Colombian fans trying to enter the stadium illegally, and a riot almost broke out.

“It was a really dangerous situation,” sports commentator Mike Ryan Ruiz later said . “A lot of destruction of property, some people got hurt, I saw some kids firsthand that were properly spooked, crying. It was a real bad scene. It kinda felt like the end of Titanic a little bit — everyone’s panicking and trying to find their way. It was real bad.”

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A total of 55 people were eventually ejected from the stadium by police that night, and another 27 were arrested. Of those 27 that were arrested, at least 11, including Mayorga, turned out to be illegal immigrants.

If we don’t enforce our nation’s immigration laws, if we keep releasing illegal immigrants into the country like Biden is still doing, then the rule of law in this nation will only deteriorate further, and we can only expect more near-riots at sporting events to come.