Key Takeaways
- ICE Presence: Corey Lewandowski confirmed that ICE agents will be present at the Super Bowl.
- Bad Bunny’s Performance: Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show, marking his return to the event.
- Concerns Raised: The artist previously expressed concerns about immigration enforcement targeting his audiences.
- Lewandowski’s Criticism: Lewandowski criticized Bad Bunny’s selection, claiming it reflects a negative view of America.
Following the news that Bad Bunny will headline the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show, a core member of Donald Trump’s administration has warned that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be present at the game.
In a Wednesday (Oct. 1) appearance on “The Benny Show,” Corey Lewandowski — the president’s 2016 and 2024 campaign manager who now advises the Department of Homeland Security — was asked whether ICE will be on the ground at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, come Feb. 8, 2026.
“There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally,” was Lewandowski’s response. “Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else. We will find you and apprehend you and put you in a detention facility and deport you.”
“Know that is a very real situation under this administration, which is contrary to how it used to be,” he continued.
The remarks come just three days after it was announced that Benito would be performing at the Big Game next year, six years after he made his debut on the Super Bowl stage during Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s headlining show. The news was particularly attention-grabbing as the rapper had previously decided not to perform in the United States while on tour due to concerns that immigration officers might target his audiences — something he referenced at the time of the announcement.
“I’ve been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I’ll do just one date in the United States,” Bad Bunny wrote on X on Sunday (Sept. 28).
As for Lewandowski’s personal opinions about Roc Nation’s pick for the 2026 showcase, the conservative consultant isn’t a fan. “It’s so shameful they’ve decided to pick somebody who seems to hate America so much to represent them at the Halftime Show,” he said on “The Benny Show.”
“We should be trying to be inclusive, not exclusive,” Lewandowski added. “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.”
It’s unclear where Lewandowski may have gotten the notion that Bad Bunny — who is from Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the U.S. — hates America. Even as he was explaining his reasons for not taking his Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour through the so-called Land of the Free in 2025-26, Benito specified in a September interview with I-D, “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 continued at the time. “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 there was the issue of, like, f–king ICE could be outside [my concert]. And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
