Canada coach Jesse Marsch understands some of his team's supporters might not want to travel to the CONCACAF Gold Cup for fear of difficulty at the U.S. border.
"I could see trepidation for anyone looking to travel to the U.S. at this current political climate," he said during a Zoom news conference Monday. "So it's a sad thing, I think, that we have to talk about visiting the U.S. in this way but I think everybody has to make decisions that are best for them and that fit best with what's going on in their life and their lifestyle."
Since President Donald Trump started his second term in January, there have been reports of tourists being stopped at U.S. border crossings and held at immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense. Canadian Jasmine Mooney, an actor and entrepreneur with a U.S. work visa, was detained by U.S. border agents in San Diego on March 3 . She was released after 12 days' detention.
Canadian residents' return trips by air from the U.S. fell 20 in April, and return trips by car were down 35, according to Statistics Canada .
Marsch, a 51-year-old American born in Racine, Wisconsin, was hired as Canada's coach in May 2024 after previous stints at Montreal, the New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Leeds.