DHS secretary says ICE will be at World Cup to 'do our job'

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be at the FIFA World Cup to their job but not to "round up mass individuals," Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said in an interview with CBS News.

Mullin, in the interview on Tuesday, was asked if ICE's role at the world soccer showcase -- which includes 11 American cities as host sites -- is security rather than arresting undocumented migrants.

"Well, ICE always says immigration enforcement," Mullin said. "We're always going to do that. But we're not there for solely that purpose. We're in there to do our job.

"We're not there to go round up mass individuals, but we are always looking for the worst of the worst," he added. "We're going to continue to do that."

The 48-team World Cup is June 11 to July 19 across 16 host cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., as the site of the World Cup final.

Mullin emphasized ICE's mission of enforcing U.S. Customs laws.

"It's Immigration and Custom(s) Enforcement," he said. "So what do you find at a tremendous amount of sporting events? Counterfeit products, counterfeit tickets. You have counterfeit clothing being sold on the streets."

The deployment of ICE for immigration-enforcement raids has increased since Donald Trump began his second stint as president last year, igniting a significant political debate in the U.S.

He said that ICE has long had a presence a major sporting events such as the Super Bowl but is now controversial because "media and the public" -- then clarifying, "the Democrats" -- have "made them some type of villain."

Mullin said that while working major sporting events, law enforcement will encounter people wanted for murder, drug trafficking and other serious crimes as well as individuals flagged by the International Criminal Polic Organization (Interpol).

"When they're at these sporting events, we're not out there doing immigration enforcement," Mullins said. "But we are looking for, maybe we have people that shouldn't be in this country because they're on terrorist watchlists."

--Field Level Media