The 2026\u00a0Milan-Cortina<\/a>\u00a0Winter Olympics<\/a>\u00a0is well underway following Friday\u2019s (February 6) opening ceremony during which\u00a0US Vice President JD Vance<\/a>\u00a0was booed by spectators at the San Siro in Milan.<\/p>\n And despite\u00a0Trump<\/a>\u00a0not being present in Italy, his presidency remains a controversial topic among the athletes.<\/p>\n Skiers Lillis and Hess both spoke to the media ahead of the opening ceremony, with the pair voicing their concerns about representing the US as ICE operations continue to sweep the nation.<\/p>\n Hess, who is appearing at his first games, revealed that he is feeling \u201cmixed emotions\u201d about representing the US in Milan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now, I think,\u201d said the 27-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little hard. There\u2019s obviously a lot going on that I\u2019m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n “I think, for me, it\u2019s more I\u2019m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I\u2019m representing it. Just because I\u2019m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that\u2019s going on in the U.S.<\/p>\n “I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here.”<\/p>\n ICE is responsible for enforcing US immigrations laws as well as managing the detention and removal of undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n The force has been heavily criticised over the past month following the death of US citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, after both were shot dead by agents in Minneapolis in January.<\/p>\n And not everyone has taken kindly to Hess\u2019 comments, including\u00a0Jake Paul,<\/a>\u00a0who hit out on social media on Saturday (February 7).<\/p>\n \u201cWow pls shut the f*** up,\u201d Paul wrote. \u201cFrom all true Americans<\/p>\n “If you don\u2019t want to represent this country, go live somewhere else.”<\/p>\n
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