"The 2026 Milano Cortina Games are to open on February 6, but the event is already being overshadowed by the US agency's role. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a United States government agency that is to support security operations at the Winter Olympics in Italy, is not welcome. Confirmation that a branch of ICE will help with security for the Milano Cortina Games, which will begin next week, has sparked immediate anger as well as a plea from Sala."
"In a statement issued overnight to the AFP news agency, ICE 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. All security operations remain under Italian authority. The Associated Press news agency also quoted sources at the US embassy in Rome as saying the federal immigration agents would support diplomatic security details but not run any immigration enforcement operations. It's not known whether the HSI has in the past been involved in the Olympics or whether this is a first."
The 2026 Milano Cortina Games open on February 6. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala called ICE "a militia that kills" and declared the agency unwelcome. Confirmation that an ICE branch will support security at the Games sparked immediate anger and a mayoral plea. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations will support the US Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service and the host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations. ICE emphasized that all security operations remain under Italian authority and that it does not conduct immigration enforcement in foreign countries. Embassy sources indicated federal agents will support diplomatic security details but not carry out immigration enforcement operations.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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