Hundreds of protesters gathered in Milan on Saturday to denounce the deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during the upcoming Winter Olympics, despite assurances that the agents would be confined to a control room and not operate on the streets.
The demonstration took place in Piazza XXV Aprile, a square named for Italy's liberation from Nazi fascism in 1945. Participants included members of the left-leaning Democratic Party, the CGIL trade union, and ANPI organisations that preserve the memory of Italy's wartime resistance.
Protesters blew plastic whistles as music played from a van, voicing opposition not only to the ICE presence but also to what they described as 'creeping fascism' in the United States. Banners read 'No thank you, from Minnesota to the world' and 'Ice only in Spritz', a reference to a popular Italian aperitif.
Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala has stated that the ICE agents are not welcome. Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi has been summoned to Parliament to testify about the deployment. The agents in question belong to Homeland Security Investigations, a unit that focuses on cross-border crimes and frequently assists at international events, not the Enforcement and Removal Operations unit involved in domestic immigration crackdowns.
Protester Silvana Grassi, holding a sign that read 'Ice = Gestapo', expressed distress over images of ICE agents in Minneapolis. 'Even if it's not the same ones, we don't want them here,' she said. Another protester, Paolo Bortoletto, acknowledged the agents' limited role but added, 'We don't want them in our country. We are a peaceful country. We don't want fascists.'
The Winter Olympics begin on 6 February, with US vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio expected to attend the opening ceremony.
