ROME, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Italy has detailed a sweeping security plan for the Winter Olympics, stressing that it will keep command of all operations after news 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 elsewhere across the north.
About 3,500 athletes will take part in the event, which runs from February 6 to February 22, with the government expecting some 2 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.
SIX THOUSAND LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the security operation blends 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 guard 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.
ICE and Border Patrol agents have drawn heavy criticism in the United States over their enforcement of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, with images of their actions shocking many in Italy, traditionally a close U.S. ally.
In a statement, the interior ministry said ICE staffers would only work in U.S. diplomatic offices such as the Milan consulate, and “not 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 be present via its Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) division, but its role “will be strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrolling or enforcement involvement,” Tilman J. Fertitta, the U.S. ambassador to Italy, wrote on X.
“At the Olympics, HIS criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats, with a focus on cybercrimes and national security threats.”
‘ICE OUT’ RALLIES LOOM
The assurances have not quelled criticism.
The hard-left USB union has called an “ICE OUT” rally in central Milan on February 6, coinciding with the Games opening ceremony, while opposition parties and left-wing groups plan a protest this Saturday.
Emanuele Ingria, a human resources worker from Milan, told Reuters he was “very worried” by the prospect of ICE agents operating in Italy.
“I don’t think that’s what we need today,” he added. “Especially considering what’s happening there (in the United States) … It’s truly a guerrilla force, I don’t like it.”
Under the Olympics deployment plan, more than 3,000 regular police officers, some 2,000 Carabinieri military police and more than 800 Guardia di Finanza tax police will be assigned to venues, with Milan hosting the largest contingent.
PIERO CRUCIATTI via Getty Images
The plan also includes drone surveillance, robotic inspection systems for hazardous or inaccessible areas, and a cybersecurity command centre in Milan tasked with monitoring both Olympic networks and strategic transport infrastructure that faced disruption ahead of the Paris 2024 Games.
Authorities will activate several “red zones” from February 6 to 22, barring access to individuals with public-order convictions in an effort to prevent clashes.
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; additional reporting in Milan by Antonio Denti and Matteo Negri and in Rome by Alvise Armellini; Editing by Crispian Balmer, Christian Radnedge and Clarence Fernandez)
