ICE agents spark controversy in Italy over Olympics plans

Members of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US government agency that has been carrying out raids in US cities, will be in Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, ICE said.

“At the Winter Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal Organizations,” ICE told news agency AFP in a statement.

US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead their country’s delegation to the Winter Games, which are due to be held in February. Both US politicians are outspoken supporters of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on migrants. 

The US agency added that security operations will remain at the hands of the authorities in Italy.

The Games are set to start on February 6 with an opening ceremony at Milan’s iconic San Siro Stadium, and will continue until February 22.

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that the ICE agents’ presence at the Winter Olympics is aimed at helping protect the US delegation and would not be patrolling the streets of Milan.

“They are coming to collaborate in the operations rooms,” the ANSA news agency quoted Tajani as saying, adding that the agents are not going to travel to the country to “maintain public order in the streets.”

ICE ‘not welcome’ in Milan

The Italian minister also emphasizing the ICE agents present will not be “like those people” who carried out raids and shot dead two US citizens in the city of Minneapolis, resulting in mass protests across the country. 

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“It’s not like the SS are coming,” Tajani said, referring to the paramilitary organization in Nazi Germany.

Tajani also said he will meet the US ambassador to Italy to “clarify” the issue.

ICE itself said they do not conduct “immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries.”

These comments come as Milan’s Mayor Giuseppe Sala criticized the presence of ICE agents in his city.

“They are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt,” he told RTL Radio 102.

According to Sala, the agents’ presence is “not aligned with our democratic way of managing security.”

Sala has been a vocal critic of ICE’s operations in the US.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic