Italy with 6,000 officers, drones and cybernet to control Olympic security operations, but ICE will be present.
Italy has detailed a comprehensive security plan for the Winter Olympics, insisting that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel will assist the US delegation.
Splitting the event between the two main centers of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with additional events held elsewhere in the north, the Games will be one of the most complex security operations Italy has ever had to manage.
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Some 3,500 athletes will compete in the event, which runs from February 6 to February 22, with the government expecting around two million visitors, including 60,000 for the opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro stadium.
The US delegation will be led by US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the security operation combines field deployment, intelligence-led deterrence and, for the first time in a major event in Italy, a 24-hour cyber security control room.
About 6,000 law enforcement officers will guard multiple Olympic sites, supported by no-fly and restricted-entry zones.
Rival nations often bring their own security personnel. Accordingly, the US State Department said on Tuesday that several federal agencies, With ICEIt will help protect Americans who visited the last Olympics.
ICE and Border Patrol agents have sharply criticized US President Donald Trump’s enforcement of an immigration crackdown, with images of their actions shocking many in Italy, traditionally a close US ally.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry said ICE personnel would only work in US diplomatic offices, such as the Milan consulate, and “not on the ground”.
It added, “All security operations on Italian territory will remain, as usual, under the exclusive responsibility and direction of the Italian authorities.”
ICE will be present through its Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) division, but its role will be “strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrol or enforcement involvement”, US Ambassador to Italy Tillman Jay Fertitta wrote on X.
“At the Olympics, HIS criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on international criminal threats, focusing on cybercrime and national security threats.”
The assurances did not quell the criticism.
The hard-left USB union has called an “ICE OUT” rally in central Milan on February 6, to coincide with the Games’ opening ceremony, while opposition parties and left-wing groups plan protests this Saturday.
Emanuele Ingria, a human resources official in Milan, told Reuters he was “very concerned” 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 going on over there (in the US) … it’s really a guerrilla army, I don’t like it.”
Under the Olympic deployment plan, more than 3,000 regular police officers, around 2,000 Carabinieri military police and more than 800 Guardia di Finanza tax police will be deployed to the venues, with Milan hosting the largest contingent.
The plan includes drone surveillance, robotic inspection systems for dangerous or remote areas, and a cyber security command center in Milan tasked with overseeing both the Olympic network and strategic transport infrastructure that face disruption ahead of the Paris 2024 Games.
Authorities will activate several “red zones” from February 6 to 22, barring entry to persons with public-order concerns in an effort to prevent clashes.