Nellie Pou

Federal funding to help secure the 2026 FIFA World Cup at MetLife Stadium is no longer being held up by the Department of Homeland Security, according to Rep. Nellie Pou.

Pou, the Paterson Democrat whose district includes the Meadowlands complex in East Rutherford, raised the alarm last month when the $625 million set aside by Congress for the 11 U.S. cities hosting matches was frozen in Washington.

“Matches begin in less than 90 days. Congress passed this funding long in advance and officials needed this money months ago,” Pou said. “Our local law enforcement and public safety officials in North Jersey and other host cities are among the best in the country, but they need real aid to guarantee a safe tournament. We cannot allow mismanagement or incompetence to threaten years of careful preparation and imperil the security of the millions of visitors to the games.”

New Jersey and New York City applied to receive around $70 million since they are hosting eight matches, including the final, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

The first term congresswoman is the top member of her party on the House Homeland Security Task Force overseeing World Cup security.

Pou said the money was appropriated by Congress to keep the stadiums and fans safe, but the delays from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was causing problems for host cities around the country.

“It's been held and, in my opinion, it's been politicized,” she said last month. “Local government and law enforcement need this money and they need it now. They need it in order to pay overtime. They have to provide security supplies, mutual aid agreements and put general safety protocols in place.”

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Withholding these funds is among the mixed messages coming from the Trump administration about the World Cup. Trump hosted FIFA President Gianni Infantino at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida and at the White House. Infantino also attended Trump's second inauguration and presented Trump with the newly created "FIFA Peace Prize" medal. But there are increased concerns about whether Trump's controversial and aggressive immigration enforcement policies and actions will escalate at World Cup events.

Pou said she asked the head of ICE just a few weeks ago what role it will be looking to play at the World Cup and said he “actually refused to give me a clear answer.”

She is now sponsoring legislation block ICE from conducting immigration enforcement raids near the matches and fan festivals during the tournament.

Pou is sponsoring the bill alongside her fellow New Jersey member, Rep. LaMonica McIver, California's Rep. Eric Swalwell and Mississippi's Rep. Bennie Thompson.

“There is no successful tournament if fans and players are looking over their shoulders,” Pou said. “We want law enforcement to focus on strong security for the World Cup, not meeting civil immigration quotas. We should not allow fear to define this moment and ruin the games.”

Though no estimated cost for the tournament has been made public, the total spent or contracted is about $307 million, according to documents obtained by NorthJersey.com.

New Jersey and New York City are supposed to share the costs to host the eight matches, but so far there is no known agreement between the two regarding cost-sharing.

Pou said the $70 million in federal funding would be jointly received by New Jersey and New York City, but it's the responsibility of FIFA to distribute those dollars to individual agencies and departments. FIFA, a Switzerland-based organization whose past top leaders have faced sweeping corruption charges a decade ago, is not steeped in the on-the-ground work in the host cities or expenses borne by either state.

It’s unclear who would specifically get the funding in the region because while the matches will take place in the Garden State, two FIFA sanctioned fan events will take place in New York — one in Queens and another at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.