U.S. dispatches ICE agents to Winter Olympics, angering Italy

The U.S. immigration agency involved in two fatal shootings in Minneapolis said it would send agents to help support U.S. security operations during the Winter Olympics, which begin in Italy on February 6.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed the agency’s role after reports caused panic and outrage in Italy.

“This is a murderous militia… Of course they are not welcome in Milan,” the city’s mayor, Beppe Sala, told Italian radio on Tuesday.

An ICE spokesperson emphasized that “all security operations remain under the jurisdiction of Italian authorities.”

Sources at the U.S. Embassy in Rome have explained to Italian media that various federal agencies have been involved in previous Olympics in the past, but it is unclear whether customs and law enforcement agencies themselves have been involved.

“ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and host nations in reviewing and mitigating risks from transnational criminal organizations,” the agency’s statement on Tuesday explained.

The statement said it would “obviously” not conduct immigration enforcement operations outside the United States.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Pantedosi initially seemed unaware that U.S. immigration officials would be coming to the Milan-Cortina Games and said even if they knew, foreign delegations could choose their own security, saying: “I don’t understand what the problem is, it’s normal.”

But as the images from Minneapolis have grown increasingly shocking, so has the Italian outcry over the possible presence on Italian streets of officers from the same U.S. federal agencies.

After Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis on Saturday morning, two reporters for Italian public broadcaster Rai were threatened by ICE officers as the reporters drove around the city to cover the agency’s operations.

Rai TV reports showed an agent warned staff that their car windows would be smashed if they continued to film the agents.

Lombardy Governor Attilio Fontana tried to calm the situation, suggesting that ICE agents would be deployed in Italy to protect U.S. Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Political opponents of right-wing Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, such as five-star Senator Barbara Floridia, warned that the government’s continued silence on the issue would provide “more evidence of cowardice and submission to Donald Trump”.

The interior minister has since taken a tougher stance, insisting on Monday that “ICE certainly does not operate on Italian soil”.

He said that the United States has not yet notified the list of security personnel and that security is guaranteed by the Italian government.

Milan’s center-left mayor is unimpressed.

“I think (ICE agents) should not come to Italy because they cannot guarantee compliance with our democratic way of ensuring security,” Beppe Sala told RTL radio.