Milan's mayor has declared that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are 'not welcome' in the co-host city of the Winter Olympics, amid growing uproar over their planned security role. The controversy escalated after it emerged that ICE's investigative arm will support diplomatic security during the Milan-Cortina Games, though officials insist they will not conduct enforcement operations.
The US embassy in Rome confirmed that ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit will assist the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service in vetting risks from transnational criminal organisations. However, Lombardy region president Attilio Fontana claimed that US Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be protected by ICE 'bodyguards'.
Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala told RTL radio: 'This is a militia that kills. It's clear that they are not welcome in Milan... Can't we just say no to Trump for once? We can take care of their security ourselves.' His comments follow fatal shootings by ICE agents in Minneapolis earlier this month, which have inflamed Italian public opinion.
Opposition parties have launched petitions to block the deployment, with the Green and Left Alliance stating: 'ICE is the militia that shoots people on the streets of Minneapolis and takes children away from their families.' Foreign minister Antonio Tajani attempted to downplay concerns, saying: 'It's not like the SS are coming... They're coming to collaborate in the operations rooms.'
Italy's interior ministry later clarified that only ICE's investigative arm—present in over 50 countries—would be involved, not its operational immigration enforcement personnel. The US will establish its own operations room at the consulate in Milan during the Games, which begin on 6 February.
