The corporate media is in full meltdown mode after a Somali referee and an Iraqi team staff member were denied entry into the United States ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
A Somali national slated to officiate matches at the FIFA World Cup was denied entry into the United States after arriving at Miami International Airport from Istanbul on Saturday, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
While CBP did not publicly identify the individual, reports indicate the official is Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, the only referee from Somalia selected to participate in the tournament, according to AP.
Predictably, global soccer bureaucrats and international media outlets immediately rushed to portray the official as a victim. But CBP made clear that the decision was based on legitimate security concerns uncovered during the agency’s vetting process.
“During processing, the traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility,” CBP said in a statement.
“Following inspection, the traveler, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry.”
CBP further emphasized that all individuals seeking entry into the country—including athletes, coaches, referees, staff members, and other tournament personnel—must undergo the same inspection and vetting procedures.
In a direct and unapologetic press conference, Mullin refused to back down, refused to apologize, and refused to play the victim game the left loves so much. Here’s what he said:
“We’re not going to allow people who have criminal, or even perceived criminal, ties to come into this country. I don’t care what your situation is. I’m not going to get into why we denied this individual, but there’s a reason why this person was denied.
Now, the left-wing media wants to go out there and report that this guy is a victim because we’re anti-Somalia. No, we’re not. We work closely with FIFA and the administration on a regular basis. We talk to FIFA and their directors constantly. Anybody who was denied, we made the case for and showed them why they were denied.
Now, to get into the specifics of it, I’m not going to get into the specifics of it. But Iran chose a difficult path. If there was any country we weren’t going to allow in here, Iran would probably be the reason why we wouldn’t allow them in here. But we did, and we worked closely with the individuals, with restrictions.
There were more than just these two. There were multiple individuals throughout the process. We have a World Cup here, and we have a lot of countries that don’t exactly have easy access to the United States.
We did a phenomenal job of getting as many people cleared as we could, but some people just can’t clear the process. That’s just the way it works when getting a visa to come to this great country.”
WATCH:
JUST IN: DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin REFUSES to back down after a Somali “referee” and Iraqi “team staff member” were denied entry into the US for the World Cup GOOD! Clearly they were dangerous!
MULLIN: “We’re not gonna let people with criminal ties to come into this country!… pic.twitter.com/7CHn1eqTIJ
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 11, 2026
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