Andrew Giuliani, the chief of the White House task force overseeing the World Cup on American soil, just revealed why U.S. Customs and Border Protection turned away a Somali referee at Miami International Airport — and it turns out "vetting concerns" was the polite way of saying the guy was chatting up terrorists right before boarding his flight to the U.S.
But sure, let's all cry about FIFA's feelings and weaponization.
Omar Artan, who would have been the first referee from Somalia to officiate at a World Cup, was denied entry on Saturday despite receiving his visa just the week before. The international soccer bureaucrats and the usual media suspects immediately clutched their pearls. How dare America enforce its own borders during its own tournament?
Giuliani said, "There will be a few officials. … In the case of the referee there, he was talking to some very bad people right as he was coming to the United States, and there's some classified information we can't discuss now," Giuliani said. Not a few years ago. Not some ancient social media post. "It was not a few years before. This was immediately before he was coming to the United States."
Somalia, for those keeping score at home, is one of 39 countries on President Trump's executive order restricting entry into the United States. There's a reason for that. The country's own airport in Mogadishu is basically a war zone with a luggage carousel. And we're supposed to just wave through anyone FIFA puts a whistle around their neck?
Giuliani made it crystal clear that the administration isn't playing politics with the tournament — they're playing defense with national security. "Very simply, the president has created many pathways for players, coaches, fans to be able to come in the country. Look, every single player has received access to the United States that's applied, every coach that's received access," he said. In other words, we're rolling out the red carpet for everyone who isn't, you know, communicating with bad actors days before their flight.
The Somali Embassy in Kenya tried to run interference for Artan, but CBP wasn't having it. Good.
"At some point, that may be released, but what I can tell you is it was the right decision by CBP. It was the right decision by the secretary of homeland security, and I stand by that decision," Giuliani added.
Here's what the hand-wringers at FIFA and in the European press don't want to talk about: the vetting worked. This is what it looks like when a country actually enforces its immigration laws instead of treating its borders like a suggestion box. A guy had a visa, showed up at the airport, and the system caught something the visa process missed. That's not a failure. That's the system doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
And credit where credit is due — Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, could have dodged the question or hidden behind diplomatic language. Instead he went on national television and said the quiet part out loud. The referee was talking to very bad people, there's classified intelligence behind the decision, and America doesn't owe FIFA an apology for keeping its citizens safe during the biggest sporting event on the planet.
The World Cup is a soccer tournament, not an open-borders convention.
If the rest of the world doesn't like our security standards, they're welcome to host the next one themselves. We'll be over here, keeping the doors locked and the refs vetted.