Plan for ICE brokers at 2026 Olympics causes outrage in Italy : NPR

A rising variety of Italian politicians are pushing again in opposition to a plan for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers to assist present safety on the Milan Winter Olympics.

U.S. Homeland Security officers have supplied help at previous Olympic Games, however critics together with Milan’s mayor say after the violence in Minneapolis, ICE brokers are not welcome.

“This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips,” Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala advised native media. “It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt.”

It’s frequent for U.S. regulation enforcement and intelligence businesses, together with the Department of Homeland Security, to play a job at huge worldwide occasions just like the Olympics.

In a press release to NPR, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin mentioned ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit will help Italian authorities and different U.S. federal businesses working on the Winter Games.

“Obviously, ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries,” McLaughlin mentioned. “At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations is supporting the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations. All security operations remain under Italian authority.”

Speaking with Italian journalists, Italy’s inside minister, Matteo Piantedosi, mentioned it isn’t but clear what U.S. safety personnel shall be on the Milan Cortina Games, however he careworn that “ICE will not operate on Italian territory.”

“It’s not like the SS are about to arrive.” – Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, talking with L’Espresso

Italy’s international minister Antonio Tajani, in the meantime, scrambled to include the controversy, saying that the ICE brokers working in Italy usually are not similar to immigration enforcement squads. “It’s not like these are the [ICE] people on the streets of Minneapolis,” Tajani told the Italian magazine L’Espresso, including, “It’s not like the SS are about to arrive.”

Those reassurances have not happy many Italian politicians. Posting on X, former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pointed to “street violence and killings” within the U.S. linked to ICE. He urged Italy’s authorities to dam any function for ICE brokers. “We cannot allow this,” Conte wrote.

The opening ceremonies for the Milan Games are per week from Friday, with Vice President Vance and different U.S. officers anticipated to attend.

These Olympics open at a second when tensions between the Trump administration and European allies are operating excessive over a variety of points, from tariffs and Greenland to the way forward for NATO and the protection of Ukraine.

NPR correspondent Ruth Sherlock in Rome contributed to this report.