ICE officers to provide US security at the Olympics in Italy

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• Officials from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are to be involved on site at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
• This has met with criticism in Italy, particularly from the mayor of Milan, who rejects the presence and describes ICE as "illegal".
• The background to the debate is the fatal shooting of US citizens by ICE agents during operations in the USA.

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Officials from the controversial immigration authority ICE are to assist with on-site security at the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo on behalf of the US government. This was reported by the AP news agency, citing the US embassy in Rome. The ICE officers are to support the security service of the US State Department.

As things stand at present, US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the grand opening ceremony of the Winter Games on February 6. The presence and work of ICE officials will be limited to their security.

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Milan mayor rejects ICE

The possible deployment of officials from the agency is causing a stir in the host country of the Winter Games. The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, rejects their presence. "As mayor of Milan and as an Italian, I definitely don't want this private police force to come to Milan. This is a police force that acts and kills completely illegally."

The authority has been criticized following the shooting deaths of two US citizens during their operations. At the beginning of January, Renée Good was killed by shots fired by an ICE officer. Last Saturday, nurse Alex Pretti was shot dead by federal officers during an operation. There are nationwide protests against US President Donald Trump's deportation policy and the actions of the emergency services.