As the start of the Milan Cortina Winter Games approaches, the host city’s mayor is speaking out against the expected presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the Italian metropolis.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said that ICE is “not welcome” in response to reports that federal immigration agents will have a security role during the Feb. 6-22 Winter Games. According to the Associated Press, ICE officers will support diplomatic security details and “would not run any immigration enforcement operations.”
“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, per Italian news outlet Calcio e Finanza.
Sala added: “I wonder, can we say no to Trump for once? ICE agents must not come to Italy because they are not aligned with our democratic way of guaranteeing security.”
During past Olympic Games, multiple federal agencies have helped provide security for U.S. diplomats, sources familiar with the matter told the AP.
Among them is Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of ICE. HSI’s stated mission is to “conduct federal criminal investigations into the illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States.”
The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) has also been working with local authorites in Italy in advance of the Winter Games. Considered the State Department’s law enforcement arm, DSS help provide security at major international events, including prior Olympics.
In a statement, ICE said that HSI is “supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations. All security operations remain under Italian authority.”
However, the plan to send ICE agents to Milan has been met with considerable backlash from Italian officials and political groups.
Protestors and politicians in the U.S. have amplified their criticism of President Donald Trump’s severe immigration tactics after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. His death came less than three weeks after an ICE agent killed Renee Good during federal operations in the Twin Cities.
Reports of violence against protestors and harsh treatment of detained immigrants have also sparked condemnation abroad ahead of the quadrennial Winter Games in Milan.
Italia Viva, a centrist opposition party led by former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, said ICE agents should not be allowed in the country.
“ICE, Trump’s anti-immigration militia, are a symbol of violence, repression, abuse, and human rights violations,” Italia Viva posted on X. “Accepting their presence in Italy is madness: they do not guarantee security and do not represent our values.Get ICE out of Italy!”
Alessandro Zan, a member of the European Parliament’s center-left Democratic Party, said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni should “stop taking orders from Trump and, for once, act as a patriot of Italy and not of the United States.”
“In Italy, we don’t want those who trample human rights and act outside any democratic control,” Zan posted on X. “It’s unacceptable to think that an agency of this kind could have a role, whatever it may be, in our country.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
