Swalwell plays up athletic credentials in effort to blunt DHS sweeps at World Cup

By Fox News · Fox News

Rep. Eric Swalwell , D-Calif., invoked his collegiate soccer career while introducing a package of bills to prevent immigration enforcement behavior in and around World Cup sites this June. More than a dozen American cities will be hosting World Cup soccer matches, including East Rutherford, N.J., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington – while three Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee want to prevent what they call racial and linguistic profiling that would instill fear in fans. "How can our country host the World Cup while deporting visiting fans from around the world?" Swalwell said in a statement introducing his " Safe Passage to the World Cup Act." "As a former Division I soccer player, I know what an honor it is to host the world’s biggest sporting event. SENATE DEMS REFUSING TO BUDGE ON DHS FUNDING MAY CAUSE HEADACHE FOR WORLD CUP TRAVELERS Swalwell, an Iowa native , played goalkeeper in Division I soccer at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. The future liberal firebrand dreamed of being a professional soccer star himself, but ended up breaking his thumbs, which eventually sidelined his prospective career. After transferring to the University of Maryland in College Park, he interned in neighboring Washington, D.C. for Rep. Ellen Tauscher, a California Democrat. "That was a turning point. I knew I didn’t want to play soccer anymore; I wanted to be in Washington," Swalwell told Diablo Magazine in 2013 in a story now facsimiled on his official congressional website. Swalwell’s bill would ban federal DHS funding from being used for civil immigration enforcement activities on public transit or at terminals from June 11 to July 19 in any city hosting a FIFA match or festival. GERMAN SOCCER TEAM WERDER BREMEN CANCELS MINNESOTA TRIP OVER TRUMP IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT: REPORT The bill does provide a carveout for "hot pursuit" of suspects presenting an "imminent risk to public safety." "Our priority should be to showcase our be…