With the 2026 Olympic Winter Games around the corner, it seems that it will not be as smooth sailing as citizens in the host city of Milan take to the street to protest the involvement of United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As reported by ABC, a section of ICE will be sent along with the American delegation to the Winter Olympics in order to assist with vetting for international criminals. A job that is not new to the agency as they have regularly carried out these tasks for any major event.
Still this move has sparked massive outrage with Milanese citizens as they don’t feel ICE’s presence in their city is warranted and the action of ICE in America has made them a threat in the Italian eyes. Stated by Sky News, many citizens are protesting as they feel that this group of ICE agents will further carry out similar actions that they have in the U.S. and many are simply protesting the group as a whole for their actions.
The leadership in Italy seems to be at a difference over how to solve this issue and move forward with the competition. As you have Milan’s mayor, as reported in Euro News, siding with the protestors and calling ICE out for being a “militia that kills” and one that he doesn’t want in his city. Along with this you have Italy’s former prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, also speaking out against ICE, claiming that Italy needs to set boundaries and that ICE is wanting to come here to establish security.
Meanwhile, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has continuously denied the assistance from ICE in terms of dealing with actual security. In a report to Euro News, he reaffirmed that they will merely be as an investigator for international crime and not a police force. Attempting to further calm any nerves, he states that any and all security measures will firmly be taken care of by Italy, including the safety of the American delegation.
Still, the upset stands as many citizens can only see the danger in allowing this kind of organization to persist in their country or any country at all. Reporting from The Guardian, many have equated them to the Gestapo and a new age of fascism, expressing fear for the American people and what this means for America on the world stage. Even the protests’ location itself is harkening back to Italy’s run in with fascism, being that it was at Piazza XXV Aprile in Milan, a place named after the date when Italy freed itself from fascism.
It seems for the time being the ICE detachment will still be joining the multi-party delegation sent to help monitor the games in Italy. However, as more and more Italian left-wing parties speak out against the group’s involvement and activity overseas the tension is only set to continue to build. According to Al Jazeera, even the Italian interior minister has been called to parliament to discuss the disturbances from the protests and how the country will continue to move on this issue. Meaning that until Feb. 6 we will have to wait and see what the Italian government decides to do and how the international world will view this U.S. federal agency.
