Italy sets security plan for Milano Cortina 2026, says US ICE staff not on the ground

(Refiles amending Gmes title in headline to Milano Cortina 2026)

By Giselda Vagnoni

ROME, Jan 28 : Italy has detailed a sweeping security plan for the Winter Olympics, stressing that all operations will remain under its command after it emerged that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff would be assisting the U.S. delegation.

The Games will be one of the most complex security operations Italy has had to manage with the event split between two main hubs, Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, with additional events held in other locations across northern Italy.

Around 3,500 athletes will take part in the event, which runs from February 6–22, with the government expecting some two million visitors, including 60,000 for the opening ceremony in Milan's San Siro stadium. The U.S. delegation will be led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

6,000 LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS    

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the security operation blended field deployments, intelligence‑led prevention and, for the first time at a major event in Italy, a 24‑hour cybersecurity control room. 

About 6,000 law-enforcement officers will be stationed across multiple Olympic sites, supported by no-fly and restricted-access areas.

Competing nations often bring their own security personnel. In that vein, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that several federal agencies, including ICE, would help protect the visiting Americans as they have at past Olympics.

The interior ministry said in a statement that ICE staffers would only work in U.S. diplomatic offices such as the Milan consulate, and "not on the ground".

"All security operations on Italian territory remain, as always, under the exclusive responsibility and