PNN – Italians were outraged by the possibility of US immigration police forces being deployed to provide security for the Winter Olympics.
“Militant killer group not wanted” — these were the remarks made today (Tuesday) by Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan and host of several upcoming Winter Olympic events, regarding the potential presence of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) forces during the games.
Sala stated that he does not want militia-style forces that act like killers present in Italy for the Olympics, criticizing the idea of ICE deployment there.
In the United States, federal immigration enforcement actions have recently sparked intense controversy after multiple fatal shootings by such agents in Minneapolis. On January 24, 2026, federal agents shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse and US citizen, during an immigration operation in the city — an incident that came amid widespread protests against the heavy federal immigration presence. Video and eyewitness accounts have raised serious questions about the official account of the shooting, and Pretti’s family and colleagues have strongly contested claims that he posed a threat. The death of Pretti followed the killing earlier in the month of Renée Nicole Good, another 37-year-old American woman shot by an ICE agent during immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Both shootings have led to large protests, local officials pressing for the withdrawal of federal agents, and growing calls from nurses’ organizations and civil rights groups to rein in or abolish aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.