The ICE agents will coordinate with the Italian law enforcement agencies, but will do so from inside an operations room set up at the Milan Consulate. The outlines of the security machine that will be activated for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics are clarified: there will be six thousand men from the national security system. And to lend their support – exclusively for the protection of American athletes and delegations, also consulting the databases – will also be the units of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the American federal agency that came into the spotlight after the murder of a woman and then a man in Minneapolis during the protests against the management of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Ice in Italy, Piantedosi in the Chamber on February 4th
Their presence in Italy has sparked controversy from the opposition, so much so as to induce the government to report on the case with an information – by the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi – on February 4th to the Chamber. Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani himself throws water on the fire of the accusations: «it’s not that the SS are arriving» and «it’s not that those with machine guns are arriving with their faces covered, officials who are from a department are coming. They come because it is the department responsible for anti-terrorism.” And for the number one of the Interior Ministry “a storm in a glass has been unleashed over the affair”. The American federal agency itself was the first to confirm its presence in Italy, after 48 hours of political diatribes: «During the Olympics, the Homeland Security Investigations (its investigative and non-operational component – ed.) will provide support to the diplomatic security service of the United States Department of State and to the host nation to verify and mitigate the risks deriving from transnational criminal organizations», explained a spokesperson.
The contours of the question
Then the Minister of the Interior met with the American ambassador, Tilman J. Fertitta, addressing the aspects concerning the coordination activities of the HIS with the operations rooms of the Italian authorities. As already reiterated several times by government authorities, ICE agents will not have any external public order function. The Ministry of the Interior specified that “the US will set up its own operations room at its consulate in Milan”. Therefore “the HSI investigators will be represented not by operational personnel such as those involved in controls on migration in US territory, but by representatives exclusively specialized in investigations”. It was also decided at the National Committee for Public Order and Security that, in view of the Olympics, six thousand officers will be involved and the use of drones and aerial surveillance is planned. Particular attention will be paid to the protection of public order: another delicate aspect will be represented by possible protests – organized or improvised – that could take place and target symbolic US places or the US consulate itself.
Ice against Olympic values: signatures to deny their presence
It is no coincidence that the petition ‘Deny entry to Ice members for Milan Cortina 2026’ which was launched on January 24th has already exceeded fifteen thousand signatures. «Their presence risks compromising the universal values that the Olympic event should embody», explain the promoters of the initiative. On the political front, the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala is the first to protest: «As an Italian, even before being a Milanese citizen, I don’t feel protected by Minister Piantedosi – he says. – This is a militia that kills.” The group leaders of the Democratic Party instead requested the presence of Prime Minister Meloni in Parliament so that she could report on the matter, then receiving the announcement on the information to the Chamber from the head of the Ministry of the Interior next week. And the leader of the M5s Giuseppe Conte attacks: «Enough with the bows, let’s also put up our stakes. The Meloni government should make clear decisions”, while for the group leader of the Green and Left Alliance Peppe De Cristofaro, “the American federal agency, symbol of the Trump administration’s repression, cannot operate in our country unless it has been authorised”.