Confirmation that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will be part of security operations around the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy has triggered a political backlash in the host country, with mayors, opposition leaders, and civil rights advocates questioning why one of America's most embattled federal law-enforcement agencies will participate in security operations on Italian soil.

For weeks, the Italian media closely followed the often-violent clashes between ICE agents and protesters in the U.S.

But the topic moved to center stage after the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Italian government officials confirmed that ICE would be part of the American security detail at the Feb. 6-22 Olympics in Milan and Cortina.

In response to the news, opposition lawmakers announced that anti-ICE protests would be held in Milan on Saturday. Criticism of the announcement was swift and widespread.

“This is a militia that kills,” said Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, following the fatal shooting this past weekend of Minnesota resident Alex Pretti, allegedly by two agents with the U.S. Border Patrol, which along with ICE is conducting an aggressive illegal immigration crackdown in the state's Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul – known as Operation Metro Surge. 

About three weeks earlier, an ICE agent allegedly shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an enforcement operation. 

“They enter people’s homes without permission, and they are not welcome in Milan," Sala also said. "ICE agents are not aligned with our democratic way of guaranteeing security.”

He was not alone.

Former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called ICE agents “Trump’s troops,” referring to President Donald Trump, and said that “Italy has to set limits on what it will accept.”

L’Espresso, a leading Italian news magazine, took to social media to ask the question: “Is it appropriate for ICE officials to operate in Italy during the 2026 Olympics?” The post ran with a colorful meme showing frozen Olympic rings and the words: “ICE out – not all ice is Olympic ice.”

It will not be the first time U.S. federal agents have been part of U.S. security operations at the Olympics. But this case is particularly sensitive given ICE’s record in the U.S., considering the agency has also been accused of conducting unlawful home raids, human rights abuses, and excessive force, including links to two deaths in Minnesota. The agency has become a flash point in the country’s broader immigration debate.

The controversy also unfolds into an already complex security backdrop for the Milan-Cortina Games, with war raging in Ukraine, conflict continuing in Gaza, and worries that events could become targets of terrorist violence and increased levels of antisemitic violence in Europe. The concerns have prompted heightened vigilance by Italian authorities.

"ICE does not conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries," Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said amid Europe's concerns.

She said ICE’s role would be to help “mitigate risks from international criminal organizations” and that “security operations remain under Italian authority.”

That argument was echoed by Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajana, who defended the decision to include ICE.

“Let’s be clear: it’s not like they’re coming to maintain public order in the middle of the streets,” Tajani said. “They’re coming to collaborate in the operations rooms.”

ICE’s authority has expanded dramatically since Trump took office a year ago, with the agency tasked with aggressively enforcing immigration laws as part of the administration's push to reduce the number of illegal residents in the country.

Italy is grappling with its own mass migration pressures. 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump’s closest allies in Europe, is making it one of her government’s top priorities. 

Meloni has not publicly commented on the controversy surrounding the deployment of ICE agents in Italy, and some Italian media have said her ties to Trump have become “a political burden” for the country's leader.

The upcoming Olympics in Milan and Cortina will mark the fourth time Italy has hosted the Olympics. It hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 in Cortina d’Ampezzo and in 2006 in Turin. The country also hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.