Advocates concerned the city has yet to review LA28’s homeless trafficking program

A report on how Olympic organizers will deal with civil rights, homelessness and human trafficking still pending and during the 2028 Games has not been announced by the city more than two months after it was filed and no date has been set for its release, leaving human rights advocates to fear the issues will not receive the attention and funding they deserve.

Council president Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who chairs the LA28 Games interim committee, did not include the human rights report in the committee’s agenda. His office did not respond to requests for comment and Sharon Tso, who is an analyst of city laws and Mr. Matthew Szabo, who is the city manager, both said that they have not seen the report and “there is nothing from the council’s file,” according to Tso.

The delay limits discussion on an important topic, said Stephanie Richard, a professor of medicine who leads the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Initiative at Loyola Law School, which released its own comprehensive report on human trafficking and the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics in December.

“From an anti-trafficking perspective, this is a historic moment,” he said. “However, the public cannot access this framework.

“Without transparency, Los Angeles cannot prepare responsibly, and advocates cannot provide informed guidance. LA28 sets a global precedent – one that currently lacks public accountability.”

LA28, the independent non-profit organizing committee for the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, was tasked with developing a human rights strategy at the games. Its report was supposed to be postponed to December 31, which is the deadline it met, according to the group’s spokesperson.

“Per our Sports Agreement with the City, LA28 has completed a Human Rights Strategy by the end of 2025,” said Jacie Prieto Lopez, the group’s vice president of communications and public affairs, in LA28’s first public statement on the report. “We are now working closely with city leaders on the next steps.”

What those next steps are and when they will be taken, no one seems to know.

FIFA is producing its own report on human rights and human trafficking during this summer’s World Cup, which will host eight games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

“In each host city, human rights groups are working to develop FIFA World Cup Human Rights Action Plans in consultation with human rights stakeholders and in accordance with FIFA guidelines,” a FIFA spokesperson said in a written statement. “The plans will be published prior to the tournament. This exercise demonstrates FIFA’s ongoing and unwavering commitment to mainstreaming human rights considerations during the organization and presentation of the tournament.”

FIFA’s Los Angeles report is not expected to be released until May, according to sources close to the process who are not authorized to speak publicly, about a month before the start of the tournament. The 11 other host cities in the US, including Seattle and Houston, have already established their own plans to deal with the issue.

Richard, who was invited by the city to discuss its research with LA28, said the release of both the Olympics and World Cup reports is important to Los Angeles because it allows for public comment and oversight.

Richard’s group asked LA28 and FIFA to allocate between $2.75 and $3.1 million to fight human trafficking; sponsoring a public awareness campaign and independent audits to ensure accountability and transparency; and investing in long-term programs that go beyond the two sporting events.

“One of the things our report starts with is the only evidence-based data linked to major sporting events is that labor trafficking is on the rise,” said Richard. “Major sporting events require a large influx of people, a large influx of workers, often migrant workers who are at high risk in the construction industry.

“It is possible that most of these workers were brought in months in advance to do some of this work.”

Richard said the continued presence of immigration officers in Los Angeles adds another layer of complexity to the human trafficking mix.

In mid-February, nine state legislatures signed a letter saying LA28, FIFA and local officials have incorporated the recommendations made by the Richards team into their plans and made the report public as an important accountability step.

But when asked about the letter this month, the signatories contacted declined to comment. Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez, who represents the eastern San Fernando Valley, said Rodriguez was “not available to speak on this matter.”