The controversy is growing in Italy. As the US Immigration Police (ICE) confirmed that some of its members would be deployed during the Winter Olympics (OG) in Milan and Cortina, scheduled for February 6-22, the news sparked a wave of anger and indignation in the country. Faced with the outcry, the Meloni government is trying to calm things down.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani assured, Tuesday January 27, that American agents “won’t be the ones patrolling the streets of Minneapolis». Before releasing a formula that left its mark: “I have been harsher than anyone in Italy about the ICE raids…but it’s not like the SS are coming”referring to the infamous Nazi paramilitary militia.
This controversy comes in an already explosive context, a few days after the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two American citizens killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, on January 7 and 24. In the Italian political class, the subject divides deeply: the opposition denounces an unacceptable compromise, while the radical right of Giorgia Meloni assumes its alignment with American President Donald Trump.
To quell the anger, Attilio Fontana, President of Lombardy – one of the northern regions hosting the games – saw fit to specify, Monday January 26, that the ICE forces would be limited to the protection of American Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, expected for the opening ceremony of the Games. A statement quickly denied by the immigration police, as detailed by the media Politico.
In a press release, she recalls that “During the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) supports the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and the host nation to assess and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations». If the operations remain officially placed under Italian authority, their scope seems much broader than what Attilio Fontana suggested.
The HSI, present in Italy as in many countries, is part of the ICE, without belonging to its most controversial branch, that responsible for expulsions on American territory. Its main mission concerns criminal offenses, including child exploitation, human trafficking and cybercrime.
ICE should have been taken out of the game
Still, the symbol is disturbing. If it is common for a host country to request foreign law enforcement during the Olympic Games, the climate of repression currently prevailing across the Atlantic should, according to several political leaders, have disqualified the ICE from the start.
“This government (Meloni) is a farce and is totally submissive to figures like Trump who insult us every day, threaten world peace and justify inhumane and heinous acts like those committed by ICE»castigated Riccardo Ricciardi, deputy of the 5 Star Movement, opposition party.
Alessandro Zan, member of the European Parliament for the center-left Democratic Party, for his part described the situation as“unacceptable». On X, he assures that“in Italy we do not want those who flout human rights and act beyond any democratic control”. Local elected officials agree with this. Giuseppe Sala, left-wing mayor of Milan, host city of several events, assures that the ICE, this “militia that kills”is not “not welcome».
Among citizens, protest is being organized. As of Tuesday, January 27, two petitions aimed at blocking ICE operations had already collected more than 50,000 signatures. As the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games approaches, a question now obsesses the Italian public debate: will the formidable American agents finally be there?
