Italy will manage Olympic security with 6,000 police officers, drones and cyber units, with ICE also involved.
Italy has revealed details of its sweeping security plan for the Winter Olympics, stressing that it will maintain command of all operations following news that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents will assist the U.S. delegation.
The tournament will be one of the most complex security operations Italy has ever had to manage, with the tournament being split between two main hubs in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with additional events held elsewhere in the north.
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Around 3,500 athletes will take part in the event, which will run from February 6 to February 22, and the government is expecting around 2 million visitors, including 60,000 for the opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro Stadium.
The U.S. delegation will be led by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the security operation combines on-the-ground deployment, intelligence-led prevention and, for the first time at a major event in Italy, a 24-hour cybersecurity control room.
Approximately 6,000 law enforcement officers will guard multiple Olympic venues, with support from no-fly zones and restricted-access zones.
Competing countries often bring in their own security forces. In this vein, the U.S. State Department announced Tuesday that several federal agencies, including ICE, will help protect visiting Americans, as in past Olympics.
ICE and Border Patrol agents have drawn intense criticism in the United States over President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration enforcement, and images of their actions have shocked many in Italy, traditionally a close ally of the United States.
The Interior Department said in a statement that ICE officers only work at U.S. diplomatic missions abroad, such as the consulate general in Milan, and “do not work on the ground.”
It added: “All security operations on Italian territory remain, as always, under the exclusive responsibility and direction of the Italian authorities.”
ICE will participate through its Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) division, but its role “will be strictly advisory and intelligence-based, not involved in patrolling or enforcement,” Tilman J. Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, wrote in X.
“At the Olympics, HIS criminal investigators will provide expertise by focusing on cybercrime and national security threats and providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats.”
This assurance did not quiet the critics.
The far-left USB union has called for an “ICE OUT” rally in central Milan on February 6 to coincide with the Olympic opening ceremony, while opposition parties and left-wing groups are planning protests this Saturday.
Emanuele Inglia, a human resources official in Milan, told Reuters he was “very concerned” about the possibility of ICE agents operating in Italy.
“I don’t think that’s what we need today,” he added. “Especially considering what’s going on there[in the United States]…it’s really a guerrilla force. I don’t like that.”
The Olympic deployment plan will see more than 3,000 regular police officers, around 2,000 Carabinieri military police and more than 800 Guardia di Finanza tax police stationed at each venue, with Milan hosting the largest contingent.
The plan also includes drone surveillance, robotic inspection systems for dangerous and restricted areas, and a cybersecurity command center in Milan tasked with monitoring both the Olympic network and strategic transport infrastructure, which are facing disruption ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.
To prevent clashes, authorities will impose several “red zones” from February 6 to 22, barring individuals with security convictions.
