U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will serve in a security role at the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Games, according to information shared with local media by sources at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. The Associated Press independently confirmed the information with two sources at the embassy.
The sources who confirmed ICE’s participation on Tuesday said federal ICE agents would support diplomatic security details and would not conduct immigration enforcement operations.
During previous Olympics, several federal agencies have supported the security of U.S. diplomats, including ICE’s investigative component called Homeland Security Investigations, the sources said. They could not be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said ICE would not be welcome in his city, where most ice sports take place during the Winter Games from February 6 to 22.
“This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters people’s homes and signs their own consent forms. It is clear that they are not welcome in Milan, without any doubt,” Sala told RTL Radio 102 before confirming ICE’s involvement in the Games.
ICE’s role was reported this weekend by Italian daily il Fatto Quotidiano, prompting conflicting statements from Italian authorities who declined to appear to confirm the agency’s role.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Saturday that he had received no confirmation of ICE’s deployment, but added that “I don’t see what the problem would be,” the ANSA news agency reported.
Ahilan Arulanantham, professor and co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, explains when U.S. citizens must show proof of citizenship, whether ID is required and what the law says about police and immigration matters.
The Interior Ministry reiterated on Tuesday that the US has not confirmed the composition of its security detail, but stressed that “there are no indications at this time that ICE USA will act as an escort for the US delegation.”
US Vice President JD Vance will lead a delegation to attend the opening ceremony on February 6. The delegation also includes Second Lady Usha Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the White House announced earlier this month.
The confirmation of ICE’s role in Olympic security comes after RAI state television aired a video on Sunday showing ICE agents threatening to break the glass of the vehicle of a RAI crew reporting in Minneapolis, where ICE has been conducting operations mass demonstrations. In the past three weeks, federal agents have shot and killed two protesters against deportations and immigration enforcement in Minneapolis.
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AP writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed.
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