Vonn, Diggins voice unity as US image draws protests at Winter Games

MILAN, Feb 5 : U.S. athletes in Milan are bracing for what could be a chilly Winter Games reception as political unrest at home over federal immigration enforcement spills into host country and fuels protests against the policies of the Trump administration.

Critics in Italy have rallied against the planned role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel at the Games, a flashpoint amplified by a global backlash to controversial federal immigration operations and the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens by ICE agents in Minneapolis.

The outrage has reached the Winter Olympics, where hundreds of Italians protested the involvement of ICE staff supporting the U.S. delegation with a hard-left trade union planning an "ICE OUT" protest during Friday's Opening Ceremony.

Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn, who grew up in Minnesota and who has family and friends there, told reporters her "heart is incredibly heavy" after the shootings, which led to widespread protests in the U.S. last weekend. 

"I realise the magnitude of the position that I'm in right now," she said. 

"And I think the best thing I can do is to do exactly what I said. Stand tall and have hope. And show the world what America is, who we are as people. Because we are more than what's happening right now. 

"I always do my best to make our country proud. And I hope I can do that in these Games."

Italy's interior minister dismissed political outrage over ICE's presence on Tuesday, insisting the concerns were baseless and reiterating that agents would not be conducting any policing on Italian streets.

But ICE and Border Patrol enforcement actions in the U.S. have left a stain on the American image abroad as one of the world's largest, richest and most successful delegations