As it became known that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will participate in security support for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opening next month, the ripple effects are spreading through Italian politics and society at large.
On the 27th (local time), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE officially announced that they will dispatch Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents under ICE to the Winter Olympics.
Because of the name Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE may look like an organization that operates only within the United States. In reality, however, it oversees a range of divisions. HSI, which is being dispatched to the Olympics, tracks cross-border crimes such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, and forged passports. Its mandate is fundamentally different from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), another ICE division that caused controversy during immigration raids.
International crime cannot be investigated without collecting information outside the United States. In particular, during the Olympics, information gathered by HSI is used to check the safety of team travel routes and accommodations. For this reason, HSI agents are normally stationed at embassies and consulates worldwide and cooperate with local authorities. At this Olympics as well, HSI is tasked with pre-screening information such as high-risk individuals, risky routes, and potential forged identities and relaying it to the Diplomatic Security Service. This means it is not an on-the-ground arrest or enforcement body, but closer to an analysis team that filters warning signs from behind the scenes.
According to NBC, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has worked closely in this way with the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, there was also precedent for HSI agents under ICE cooperating on intelligence with French authorities. The U.S. side stressed that the current dispatch is in the same vein. In particular, as this U.S. delegation is expected to include Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, key figures in the Trump administration, the importance of intelligence support has grown.
An ICE Spokesperson said in a statement, "Olympic security operations are entirely under the authority of the Italian authorities," adding, "Dispatched ICE agents will support the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and identify threats from transnational criminal organizations to reduce risk."
The problem is the symbolism of the ICE organization and its recent actions. ICE is on the front lines of enforcing the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration crackdown. The decisive trigger that inflamed Italian public opinion was a recent shooting in Minneapolis, United States. As civilian deaths have occurred during federal immigration enforcement activities, criticism of federal immigration agencies has spread internationally as well as in Italy. In the wake of this, the very fact that an ICE-affiliated body is involved in Olympic security support has stoked anxiety in Italian society.
Giuseppe Sala, mayor of the host city Milan, immediately pushed back. According to the Italian outlet Il Fatto Quotidiano, the center-left Sala sharply criticized ICE in a radio interview, calling it a "militia that kills." He added, "They are an organization that does not fit our democratic law-and-order practices," and demanded the dispatch be withdrawn.
The Italian media and political response is also chilly. The opposition and civil society criticized that the Meloni government caved to U.S. pressure and left room for an infringement of sovereignty. The influential Italian outlet La Stampa pointed out, "For many, not only across the Atlantic, ICE is a synonym for fear." Most local outlets are likewise maintaining the line that "Trump's 'immigrant hunters' do not suit the Olympic festival of peace." Euronews reported that posters with harsh phrases such as "ICE OUT" and "ICE protects pedophiles" have appeared around Milan.
As the backlash grew, the Italian central government led by Giorgia Meloni moved to tamp it down. The right-leaning Meloni government has generally maintained friendly ties with the Trump administration. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said, "American agents will not act like they did on the streets of Minneapolis," drawing a line by adding, "People talk as if the Nazi SS is coming, but that is not the case." He emphasized, "Only the Carabinieri (gendarmerie) and the police are responsible for keeping order on Italian streets." Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi also met with U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta and reaffirmed that "ICE agents will not have any external public order function."
Experts said the controversy shows signs of escalating into a clash of values between the United States and Europe. Since President Trump took office, the strengthening of America First and anti-immigration policies has bred resentment in Europe, and opinion there has erupted around the international stage of the Olympics, they assessed. The Italian government has promised to strictly limit the scope of the agents' activities. But if even minor friction arises between U.S. agents and local residents during the Games, it cannot be ruled out that it could spill over into diplomatic conflict.