Army personnel stand guard in Piazza Duomo forward of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Video games Milan, Italy, on Monday. Brokers from ICE’s Homeland Safety Investigations unit may also be current on the Video games, sparking outrage from some Italian politicians.
Piero Cruciatti/AFP through Getty Photographs
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Piero Cruciatti/AFP through Getty Photographs
A rising variety of Italian politicians are pushing again towards a plan for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers to assist present safety on the Milan Winter Olympics.
U.S. Homeland Safety officers have supplied help at previous Olympic Video games, however critics together with Milan’s mayor say after the violence in Minneapolis, ICE brokers are not welcome.
“This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips,” Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala instructed native media. “It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt.”
It’s normal for U.S. legislation enforcement and intelligence businesses, together with the Division of Homeland Safety, to play a job at massive worldwide occasions just like the Olympics.
In an announcement to NPR, Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin mentioned ICE’s Homeland Safety Investigations unit will help Italian authorities and different U.S. federal businesses working on the Winter Video games.
“Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries,” McLaughlin mentioned. “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. All security operations remain under Italian authority.”
Talking with Italian journalists, Italy’s inside minister, Matteo Piantedosi, mentioned it isn’t but clear what U.S. safety personnel shall be on the Milan Cortina Video games, however he confused that “ICE will not operate on Italian territory.”
“It’s not like the SS are about to arrive.” – Italian Overseas Minister Antonio Tajani, talking with L’Espresso
Italy’s international minister Antonio Tajani, in the meantime, scrambled to comprise the controversy, saying that the ICE brokers working in Italy are usually not akin to immigration enforcement squads. “It’s not like these are the [ICE] people on the streets of Minneapolis,” Tajani instructed the Italian journal L’Espresso, including, “It’s not like the SS are about to arrive.”
These reassurances have not glad many Italian politicians. Posting on X, former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pointed to “street violence and killings” within the U.S. linked to ICE. He urged Italy’s authorities to dam any function for ICE brokers. “We cannot allow this,” Conte wrote.
The opening ceremonies for the Milan Video games are per week from Friday, with Vice President Vance and different U.S. officers anticipated to attend.
These Olympics open at a second when tensions between the Trump administration and European allies are operating excessive over a variety of points, from tariffs and Greenland to the way forward for NATO and the protection of Ukraine.
NPR correspondent Ruth Sherlock in Rome contributed to this report.
