Milan mayor calls ICE "a militia that kills" and says agents not welcome as part of U.S. Olympic security
The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, spoke out Tuesday amid reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would have a security role during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, which are set to begin in Milan on Feb. 6.
"This is a militia that kills," Sala said in an interview with Italian media. "It's a militia that enters people's homes by signing permits for themselves. … It's clear that they're not welcome in Milan, there's no doubt about that."
"The State Department's Diplomatic Security Service is leading the U.S. security effort at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics," the U.S. State Department said in a statement shared on Tuesday with CBS News, and also shared by the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. "As in previous Olympic events, multiple federal agencies are supporting the Diplomatic Security Service, including Homeland Security Investigations [HSI], ICE's investigative component."
The U.S. agencies stressed that HSI has supported the Diplomatic Security Service at previous Olympic Games.
"At the Olympics, the role of Homeland Security Investigations is strictly supportive — working with the Diplomatic Security Service and Italian authorities to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations," the statement said. "ICE is not involved in policing or managing security during the Olympics. All security operations at the Olympics are directed and managed exclusively by Italian authorities."
Despite his disapproval, Sala wondered aloud during the interview with Italy's RTL Radio 102: "Could we ever say no to Trump?"
"I believe they (ICE) shouldn't come to Italy, because they don't guarantee they're aligned with our democratic security management methods," Sala said. "We can take care of their security ourselves. We don't need ICE."
The reports of ICE's planned role in U.S. security operations during the upcoming Winter Olympic Games came after Italian state television aired video on Sunday of ICE agents threatening to break the windows of a vehicle carrying a state TV crew as they reported on the events in Minneapolis, the AP reported.
The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis over the weekend, less than three weeks after Renee Good, another Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an ICE officer, have put the city at the center of America's dispute over immigration enforcement and the tactics of its federal agencies.