ICE Agents to be Present at Winter Olympics in Milan, Organizer Confirms

The role has drawn criticism in Italy, though U.S. agencies routinely provide diplomatic protection at major international sporting events.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents confront protestors in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Jan. 12, 2026. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be involved in security arrangements linked to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in northern Italy.

Giovanni Malago, president of the Milan-Cortina organising committee, told reporters he believed U.S. ICE agents would be present “for the high-ranking U.S. government officials” and that they would have “nothing to do with the Games’ security aspects.”

“It’s not about the Olympics, but about individuals,” he said.

“At the Olympics, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is supporting the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations,” ICE said in a statement made overnight to AFP, according to Radio France Internationale.

“All security operations remain under Italian authority.”

The Associated Press reported on Jan. 27 that unnamed officials confirmed ICE participation and said that agents would support diplomatic security details and would not run any immigration enforcement operations.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are attending the opening ceremony in Milan on Feb. 6.

Vance will lead the American presidential delegation to the opening ceremony. The delegation will also include U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman Fertitta and several former Olympic champions, including ice hockey gold medallists Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando; short track speed skating champion Apolo Ohno; and 2010 figure skating gold medallist Evan Lysacek.

HSI conducts a wide range of operational, investigative, and security events focused on transnational crime, terrorism, and threats to national security.

HSI has led some of the U.S. government’s “most significant and consequential investigations,” the agency said, targeting and taking down “drug cartels, money laundering syndicates, sanctions violators, torturers and war criminals, arms smuggling networks, human trafficking organizations, child exploitation networks, and a host of other actors that threaten the security of the United States.”

The use of U.S. law enforcement agencies at events like the Olympic Winter Games isn’t unusual.

They often have operations at large sporting events, especially “those with global media interest, are prime targets for potential terrorists,” such as Olympic Games and World Cups.

The decision to involve ICE agents in a security role at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics has sparked political backlash in Italy.

Italia Viva, a centrist opposition party led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, said ICE agents should be barred from Italy.

“ICE, Trump’s anti‑immigration militia, is a symbol of violence, repression, abuse, and human-rights violations. Accepting their presence in Italy is madness,” the party wrote on X.

European Democrats, a centrist pro-EU political movement represented in the European Parliament, posted on X that the presence of ICE at the Olympics is “a source of deep concern.”

“With the FIFA World Cup in the United States scheduled for the summer, we have already raised concerns about the safety of teams and fans. Sporting events must never become testing grounds for policies that intimidate people instead of protecting them,” it said.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the word present in the headline. The Epoch Times regrets the error.