U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel who are part of Homeland Security Investigations will have a small security support role for the upcoming Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, according to a person familiar with the matter. ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement in foreign countries, however, and will not run immigration enforcement operations at the Games, the source said. The Associated Press first reported the story.
‘As in previous Olympic events, multiple federal agencies are supporting the Diplomatic Security Service, including Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s investigative component,’ a State Department spokesperson told USA TODAY.
Vice President JD Vance will lead an American delegation at the opening ceremony Feb. 6 in Milan, the White House announced earlier in January.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Jan. 24 that although he had not received confirmation that ICE agents would be deployed, ‘I don’t see what the problem would be,’ the news agency ANSA reported.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said in a radio interview, however, that he’s opposed to any ICE presence in his city.
‘This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips. It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt,’ Sala told RTL Radio 102, according to the AP.
Special agents from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service work alongside representatives from all the major U.S. security, defense and intelligence agencies at the Games. They manage agents embedded with U.S. Olympic sports teams, sharing information and intelligence about threats with their Italian counterparts and helping coordinate the emergency response if there is a security incident or attack.
Italian authorities ultimately have responsibility for all security at the Games.