ICE Agents Set to Have Security Role During Winter Olympics in Italy, Prompting Uproar

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will have a security role during the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Games in Italy, according to several reports.

ICE and the U.S. embassy in Rome have confirmed to the Associated Press and France’s AFP that ICE agents will be traveling to Italy for the upcoming Feb. 6-22 Winter Games, but only in a capacity of supporting diplomatic security details.

“At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations is supporting the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations,” ICE said in a statement, according to AFP.

“All security operations remain under Italian authority,” the statement added, noting that “obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries.”

News of the presence of ICE agents at the Winter Olympics had been swirling in Italy over the weekend, with Italian authorities saying they had no knowledge of this or downright denying it.

The prospect of ICE agents in Italy following the recent killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti on the streets of Minneapolis has sparked strong polemics. On Tuesday, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said that ICE agents were “not welcome.”

“This is a militia that kills … It’s clear that they are not welcome in Milan, there’s no doubt about it. Can’t we just say no to Trump for once?” the mayor said in an interview with Italy’s RTL 102.5 radio.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony in Milan on Feb. 6.