ROME: Italy has detailed a sweeping security plan for the Winter Olympics, stressing that all operations would remain under its command after it was revealed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel would assist the American delegation.
The Games will be one of the most complex security operations Italy has ever had to manage, with the event split between two main hubs, Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, and additional events held in other locations across northern Italy.
Around 3,500 athletes will take part in the event, which runs from February 6 to 22, and the government expects some 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 combined field deployments, intelligence-driven prevention and, for the first time in a major event in Italy, a 24-hour cybersecurity control room.
Around 6,000 law enforcement officers will be stationed at several Olympic venues, supported by no-fly and restricted access zones.
Competing nations often bring their own security personnel. With that in mind, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday that several federal agencies, including ICE, would help protect visiting Americans, as they have during past Olympics.
The Interior Department said in a statement that ICE personnel would only work in U.S. diplomatic offices such as the consulate in Milan, and “not in the field.”
“All security operations on Italian territory remain, as always, under the exclusive responsibility and direction of the Italian authorities,” the ministry said.
The ministry’s assurances have not appeased the critics. Far-left union USB has called an “ICE OUT” rally in central Milan on February 6, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Games, while opposition parties and left-wing groups are planning a protest.
ICE and Border Patrol agents have faced intense criticism in the United States for their enforcement of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, with images of their actions shocking many in Italy, traditionally a very close U.S. ally.
As part of the Olympics deployment plan, more than 3,000 regular police officers, some 2,000 Carabinieri military police officers and more than 800 Guardia di Finanza fiscal police officers will be assigned to the venues, with Milan hosting the largest contingent.
The plan also includes drone surveillance, robotic inspection systems for dangerous or inaccessible areas and a cybersecurity command center in Milan tasked with monitoring both the Olympic networks and strategic transportation infrastructure that was disrupted ahead of the Paris 2024 Games.
Published in Dawn, January 29, 2026
