“It's a militia that kills”

As many American cities are rocked by huge protests against ICE agents, who are accused of killing innocent people and abusing their power, The US State Department has announced that ICE officers will be present at the Winter Olympicswhich will take place on February 6-22 in Italy.

“At the Olympics, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agency will support the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service and the host country to investigate and mitigate the risks posed by transnational criminal organizations,” the agency said in a statement.

“All security operations remain under Italian authorities. Obviously, ICE does not resort to immigration control operations in foreign countries“, ICE added, according to france24.com.

Second incident in 3 weeks in which a citizen is shot and killed by an ICE officer/Photo: Imago Images

Milan Mayor: “We don't need ICE. But can we say 'No' to Trump?”

If Matteo Piantedosi, Italy's interior minister, said he did not see what the problem would be with the presence of ICE agents at the Olympics, instead Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, had a harsh reaction.

“For now we don't know, this is already a problem. Let's say that, as an Italian, even before he was the mayor of Milan, I don't feel protected by a minister like Piantedosi, the Minister of the Interior, who says “Well, if he were to come, what's the problem?”, said the 67-year-old mayor, quoted by rtl.it.

“There is a problem: [ICE] it's a militia that kills, a militia that enters people's houses by signing their own permits, like we used to do at school, but it's much worse. They are clearly not welcome in Milan, there is no doubt about thatSala added.

At the same time, maintaining his realism, Sala expressed doubt about the ability of Italian officials to refuse Donald Trump, the powerful American president.

“But I wonder: Can we ever say “No” to Trump? This is not about severing relations or creating a diplomatic incident, but could we say “No” to him? Look, I'm saying this because I'm giving you an example of what happened yesterday in America, and not in the opposition, but in Trump's party. A Republican candidate running for governor of Minnesota has withdrawn from the race after disagreements with ICE. That shouldn't happen,” he explained.

“I think they should not come to Italy because they do not guarantee that they are aligned with our democratic methods of managing security. We can take care of security ourselves. We don't need ICE”, Sala concluded.

Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, one year before the start of the Winter Olympics/Photo: Getty Images

Huge protests against ICE after two people were fatally shot in Minneapolis

According to the official website of the State Department agency, ICE's mission is to protect America through criminal investigations and enforcement of immigration laws to ensure national security and public safety.

But within less than 3 weeks, ICE officers shot and killed two people in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 years old. The two operations outraged civil society and the month of January was marked by massive protests in several American cities.

US citizens accuse ICE agents of using excessive force to kill innocent people and call for the agency to be abolished. The protesters also have the support of American basketball stars, such as Steph Curry, Tyrese Haliburton or Breanna Stewartwho criticized ICE after Good and Pretti were shot in Minneapolis.

Protest against ICE in Chicago/Photo: Imago Images