Controversy Erupts Over Foreign Security Deployments Ahead of 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

With just under a week remaining before the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics kick off in Italy, the issue dominating headlines isn’t athletic competition or preparation—it’s security.

For days, Italian national authorities, the city government of Milan, and foreign embassies and consulates have been scrambling to address widespread public outcry after reports confirmed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will have a presence at the Games, an agency tied to systemic chaos, violence, and death across the United States.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to The New York Times that ICE personnel will accompany the American delegation to the Games. In a statement attributed to DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, ICE will only partner with a U.S. State Department team “to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations” and will not conduct any immigration enforcement operations on Italian soil.

U.S. officials claim this type of security deployment is standard for Olympic delegations, and have stressed that Italian authorities retain full control of all Games security. Even so, the recent fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good at the hands of U.S. immigration agents have stoked fierce public anger over ICE’s presence. Milan’s mayor, Giuseppe Sala, went so far as to tell a local radio station that ICE agents are “not welcome” in the city.

Other top Italian officials have taken far less clear stances. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has claimed he had no advance knowledge of ICE’s deployment to Milan, while also noting he sees nothing wrong with the agency’s presence. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a long-time ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has thus far remained publicly silent on the issue.

This past Saturday, hundreds of protesters gathered in Milan’s Piazza XXV Aprile to demonstrate against ICE’s Olympic presence, carrying signs reading “No ICE in Milano” and “ICE Out Now.”

ICE personnel will not coordinate or work alongside Italian law enforcement, which has committed more than 6,000 personnel to secure Olympic events. Their sole role is protecting the U.S. contingent, which includes Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Put another way, the agents on site will almost certainly be suit-and-tie ICE operatives, not uniformed officers in tactical masks and military gear.

ICE is not the only controversial foreign security force deployed to Italy for the Games. On January 27, a cargo plane carrying more than 100 Qatari public security officers, 20 camouflaged SUVs, and three snowmobiles landed at Milan’s Malpensa Airport. After arrival, the SUVs traveled through central Milan, passing Piazza Duomo and San Siro Stadium—the site of Friday’s opening ceremony.

Qatar has no athletes competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The deployment of the country’s elite security team came at the request of Piantedosi, who signed a bilateral security cooperation agreement during an official trip to Qatar last September. The Qatari force is officially tasked with “monitoring locations, providing rapid response capabilities, and supporting preventive measures against potential security risks,” but the arrangement has proven deeply controversial: Qatari security forces have been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses, specifically targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Neither Qatari diplomatic offices in Italy nor the Italian Ministry of the Interior responded to WIRED Italia’s requests for comment.

This story originally appeared in WIRED Italia, and has been translated from its original Italian version.