US to send ICE agents to Winter Olympics, prompting Italian anger

He was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, attended by three Jewish Italians who survived the Holocaust.

It is common for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and domestic law enforcement agencies to provide security support at major international events.

DHS stressed that “all security operations at the Olympics are directed and managed exclusively by Italian authorities”.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday that no ICE agents would appear on Italian streets, only officers from the police, the Carabinieri military police and the Guardia di Finanza financial authority.

The interior ministry said later that the US would set up an operations room at its consulate in Milan, where relevant US agencies would work during the Games.

US embassy sources in Rome had already explained to Italian media that various federal agencies had worked at previous Games in the past, although it was not clear if ICE had itself taken part.

US officials said the role of Homeland Security Investigations – which is part of ICE – would be “strictly supportive – working with the Diplomatic Security Service and Italian authorities to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations”.

It would “obviously” not conduct immigration enforcement operations outside the US, homeland security department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC.

Antonio Tajani told reporters that the ICE agents who were coming were not “those with machine guns and their faces covered… they’re coming because it’s the department responsible for counter-terrorism”.

Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Pantedosi had initially appeared unaware that US immigration officials would be coming to the Milan-Cortina Olympics and said even if they were, foreign delegations could choose their own security, saying: “I don’t see what the problem is and it’s very normal.”

But as shock at the images emanating from Minneapolis grew, so did the outcry in Italy that officers from the same US federal agency could appear on Italian streets.

An ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on 7 January in a Minneapolis street, prompting nationwide protests.

And in the aftermath of Alex Pretti being shot by US border patrol agents – from another DHS agency – on Saturday morning, two journalists for Italian public broadcaster Rai were threatened by ICE officials as the reporters drove around the city covering the agency’s actions.

The Rai TV report showed one agent warned the crew that if they kept filming the agents, their car window would be smashed.

Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Pantedosi had initially appeared unaware that US immigration officials would be coming to the Milan-Cortina Olympics and said even if they were, foreign delegations could choose their own security, saying: “I don’t see what the problem is and it’s very normal.”

But as shock at the images emanating from Minneapolis grew, so did the outcry in Italy that officers from the same US federal agency could appear on Italian streets.

An ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on 7 January in a Minneapolis street, prompting nationwide protests.

And in the aftermath of Alex Pretti being shot by US border patrol agents – from another DHS agency – on Saturday morning, two journalists for Italian public broadcaster Rai were threatened by ICE officials as the reporters drove around the city covering the agency’s actions.

The Rai TV report showed one agent warned the crew that if they kept filming the agents, their car window would be smashed.