People In Italy Held A Huge Protest Against The US Sending ICE To The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics

People in Italy have held a huge protest after news broke that the US would send Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy in February.

ICE has come under heavy criticism for violently conducting raids on immigration, which increased after officers shot and killed two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Nicole Good, in Minnesota.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed on Tuesday, Jan. 27 that officers from a unit within ICE would support the department’s Diplomatic Security Service and Italian authorities “to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations.”

The unit, the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) office, works in US embassies across the world, focusing on transnational crimes, such as terrorism, drug smuggling, human trafficking and money laundering, in collaboration with local authorities.

Italy’s interior ministry said ICE officers would not work on the ground and would be stationed in the US Consulate in Milan. 

US agencies, including ICE, have provided security support for US citizens in past Olympics, the US State Department said, according to Reuters. 

The news sparked intense backlash in Italy, with people holding a huge protest in Milan on Saturday, Jan. 31, against ICE’s attendance at the games.

“This is a militia that kills, a militia that enters into the homes of people, signing their own permission slips. It is clear they are not welcome in Milan, without a doubt,” Milan’s mayor Giuseppe Sala said.

Meanwhile, Italy’s foreign minister tried to downplay the situation, saying at a Holocaust memorial, "We're not talking about the (ICE people) who were out on the streets of Minneapolis... It's not as if the (Nazi) SS are arriving," he told reporters at a Holocaust memorial event.”

The Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22.

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