‘They are not welcome in Milan,’ Italian official denounces ICE’s presence at 2026 Winter Olympics as law enforcement continues to draw controversy
By Published: Jan 28, 2026 12:25 PM
A man walks past the Olympic rings ahead of Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games in Milan on January 27, 2026. Photo: VCG
The US immigration enforcement agency whose officers have been linked to the fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minneapolis this month is reportedly being deployed in a security support role ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, beginning 6 February — a move that has sparked political backlash and public outrage in Italy, according to media reports.
“This is a militia that kills,” Milan’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, was quoted as saying in a report by the Guardian on Tuesday in response to the ICE’s operations. “It’s clear that they are not welcome in Milan, there’s no doubt about it. Can’t we just say no to Trump for once? We can take care of their security ourselves. We don’t need ICE,” he said, per the Guardian.
Federal immigration enforcement in Minneapolis has faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Both deaths sparked mass demonstrations and calls for federal immigration officers to be pulled out of the state, Fox News said.
News that a unit of ICE would be present during the upcoming Winter Games has set off concern and confusion in Italy, the AP News reported on Wednesday.
US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a unit within ICE that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security, the US media report said.
HSI officers are separate from the ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown known as Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), and there was no indication ERO officers were being sent to Italy. That distinction, however, wasn’t immediately clear to local media on Tuesday morning, per the AP News.
Some Italian officials had already reacted with fury, NBC News said.
CNN reported that current and former lawmakers have urged Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to intervene to block the agents’ presence in the country.
The divisive effect of ICE’s actions within the US is now spilling over internationally, for example, to its traditional allies, a Chinese expert said.
“As a government that has long aligned diplomatically with the US, Italy has recently shown signs of distancing itself from the US over issues such as the Minnesota incidents,” Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
“Whether in domestic policy or foreign affairs, a series of US actions appear to be distancing some of America’s closest friends,” Lü said.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, in a bid to cool tensions, told reporters "it's not like the [Nazi] SS are coming", the BBC reported on Wednesday.
Tajani said on Tuesday that no ICE agents would appear on Italian streets, only officers from the police, the Carabinieri military police and the Guardia di Finanza financial authority, the BBC said.
The Italian interior ministry said later that the US would set up an operations room at its consulate in Milan, where relevant US agencies would work during the Games, according to the media report.
Traditionally, when the US sends law enforcement personnel to assist with security at the Olympic Games, it is meant to protect American officials and athletes, and is considered normal practice. However, including officers from ICE — an agency that has recently become highly controversial at home — understandably provokes widespread resentment in Italy, Lü noted.
“Some might fear that ICE agents might bring with them the same aggressive enforcement tactics associated with the agency in the US, raising concerns about the safety of Italian citizens, visitors, and participants at the Games,” the expert noted.
The fatal shooting cases continued to sparked the outrage in the US. Former US president Joe Biden joined two former US presidents – Barack Obama and Bill Clinton – in denouncing the law enforcement actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota where ICE agents shot and killed a second resident this month.
“What has unfolded in Minneapolis this past month betrays our most basic values as Americans. We are not a nation that guns down our citizens in the street. We are not a nation that allows our citizens to be brutalized for exercising their constitutional rights. We are not a nation that tramples the 4th Amendment and tolerates our neighbors being terrorized,” Biden said in a X post on Tuesday local time.
Biden’s criticism was made after Clinton and Obama condemned the scenes in Minnesota after Alex Pretti was killed last weekend, framing the tragedy as a pivotal moment that calls Americans to “speak up” and take action, NBC reported.
The US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he will deescalate immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, according to the US media reports.
"We’re going to deescalate a little bit,” said Trump in an interview with Fox News, noting his move to replace the leader of immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota with border czar Tom Homan. The president also described Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who Homan is replacing, as "pretty out there,” the USA Today said.
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