Reports: ICE agents to have security role at Milan Olympics - ESPN

MILAN — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will have a security role during the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Games, according to information shared with local media by sources at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. The Associated Press independently confirmed the information with two sources at the embassy.

The sources who confirmed ICE participation Tuesday said that federal ICE agents would support diplomatic security details and would not run any immigration enforcement operations.

During previous Olympics, several federal agencies have supported security for U.S. diplomats, including the investigative component of ICE called Homeland Security Investigations, the sources said. They could not be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said that ICE would not be welcome in his city, which is hosting most ice sports during the Feb. 6-22 Winter 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,» Sala told RTL Radio 102 before ICE's deployment to the Games was confirmed.

ICE's role had been reported over the weekend by the Italian daily il Fatto Quotidiano, prompting conflicting statements from Italian authorities who did not want to appear to confirm the agency's role.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Saturday he had not received confirmation of ICE's deployment but added that «I don't see what the problem would be,» the news agency ANSA reported.

The Interior Ministry on Tuesday repeated that the U.S. has not confirmed the makeup of its security detail but insisted that «at the moment there are no indications that ICE USA will act