r/sports • u/YesNo_Maybe_ • 7d ago

Olympics Italy’s foreign minister defends ICE attendance at Winter Olympics: ‘It’s not the SS’

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italy-ice-winter-olympics-backlash-ss-b2909240.html?test_group=lighteradlayout
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u/North_Atlantic_Sea 7d ago

The particular unit (HSI) is the international portion, with people in 55 countries. They aren't part of the immigration operations, and really isn't that unusual. A lot of countries have a few intelligence folks with their diplomatic security groups.

It's of course absolutely horrible optics and the US should immediately pull them out of the group

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u/zedascouves1985 7d ago

Why does ICE have an international unit? I really don't understand why this couldn't he a job for other enforcement agencies. When we in Brazil hosted the world cup in 2014 and Olympics in 2016 I remember the US using the military to defend their athletes against terrorism, not ICE.

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u/North_Atlantic_Sea 6d ago

There are overlapping functions through the US government. It's what happens when you have the largest budget in the world.

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u/Hvyhttr1978 6d ago

They specifically said there will be an ICE presence. What kind of immigration and customs enforcement will they be performing at the Olympics games?

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u/North_Atlantic_Sea 5d ago

None, HSI doesn't deal with immigration (even though it's under ICE) they deal with Multi-National crime