Involvement of the Hated ICE in the 2026 Winter Olympics Was Denied by Italy

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The deployment of officers from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in security at the 2026 Winter Olympics was initially denied by the Italian Government.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Monday evening local time was quoted by AFP as saying that ICE officers "in general, will never operate in Italy."

After denying the presence of ICE, Italy then tried to downplay their involvement in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy on February 6-22.

This was revealed by the President of the Italian region in Lombardy, Attilio Fontana. According to him, the involvement of ICE officers is limited to monitoring US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Both Vance and Rubio are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan on February 6.

"They will only play a defensive role, but I'm sure nothing will happen," Attilio told reporters.

However, the Lombardy regional president's office later issued a statement saying they had no specific information about the presence of ICE officers at the major winter sports event.

The International Olympic Committee when asked about the authority of ICE officers at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy actually threw the ball to the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee or USOPC.

"We respectfully refer you to the USOPC," the International Olympic Committee told AFP.

Thousands of ICE officers are known to have been deployed by US President Donald Trump in various cities in the US to carry out enforcement in immigration operations.

ICE officers' actions against civilians in the operation tend to be unmeasured and brutal, resulting in harsh criticism and large demonstrations in a number of regions in the US, such as Minneapolis, New York, Washington to San Francisco.

The demonstration then spread, especially after the killing of two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as a result of the shooting of ICE officers in a separate operation on the streets of Minneapolis.

The ICE officers' actions resulted in the fatal shooting of the two civilians, which further heated relations between US state officials and the federal government.