With lower than every week to go till the begin of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy, the subject making headlines isn’t sports activities. It’s safety. For days, the Italian authorities, the metropolis of Milan, embassies, and consulates have been attempting to reply to public outcry following reviews about the presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Video games as the company sows chaos, violence, and death in the US.
Final week, the US Division of Homeland Safety confirmed to The New York Times that ICE would accompany a US delegation to the Video games. They might, in accordance to a press release attributed to DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin, be working with a State Division crew “to vet and mitigate dangers from transnational prison organizations” and not to conduct immigration enforcement.
US officers declare such safety measures are frequent for the Video games and harassed that Italy could be in command of safety. Nonetheless, following the current capturing deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good at the fingers of US immigration brokers, Italians had been upset over ICE’s presence. Milan’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, went as far as to inform an area radio station that brokers had been “not welcome” in the metropolis.
Different Italian officers weren’t as unequivocal. Italy’s inside minister, Matteo Piantedosi, claimed he knew nothing about ICE’s presence in Milan however harassed that he noticed nothing unsuitable with it. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a frequent Trump ally, has so far remained silent.
On Saturday, hundreds gathered in Milan’s Piazza XXV Aprile to protest ICE’s presence at the Video games, carrying indicators studying “No ICE in Milano” and “ICE Out Now.”
ICE received’t be working with Italian legislation enforcement, which has promised to have greater than 6,000 personnel at the occasions, however will as an alternative be working to defend the US contingent, which incorporates Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Put one other manner, they’re doubtless to be suit-and-tie ICE operatives, not brokers in masks and military gear.
ICE isn’t the solely controversial safety drive in Italy for the Olympics. On January 27, a cargo airplane with greater than 100 Qatari public safety officers, 20 camouflage SUVs, and three snowmobiles landed at Milan’s Malpensa Airport. Following their arrival, the SUVs made their manner to the metropolis heart, driving previous Piazza Duomo and San Siro, the place the opening ceremony might be held on Friday.
Disclaimer: This article is sourced from external platforms. OverBeta has not independently verified the information. Readers are advised to verify details before relying on them.
