MILAN, Jan 31 : Hundreds of Italians protested in Milan on Saturday over the involvement of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff in supporting the U.S. delegation at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
The demonstrators, including family groups, blew whistles and sang Bruce Springsteen songs, picking up on some of the tactics used by anti-ICE protesters in the United States.
Milan and the Alpine resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo will co-host the Games from February 6-22.
The U.S. State Department said earlier this week that several federal agencies, including ICE, would help protect the visiting Americans, as they have at past Olympics.
However, the planned presence of ICE staff after the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minnesota in January has caused uproar in Italy, traditionally a close U.S. ally.
Umberto Daddario, a 54-year-old industrial chemist, was at the protest with his daughter, Giorgia, a student who is aged 16.
They carried a hand-written placard that read “ICE=FASCISM.”
Fabio, a 49-year-old architect from Milan, attended the demonstration, with his wife and daughters aged 10 and six.
“We are here at the request of our daughters who wanted to demonstrate as a protest against what is going on in the USA,” he said.
Italy has detailed a sweeping security plan for the Winter Olympics, stressing that it will keep command of all operations.
The U.S. delegation will be led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
(Writing by Keith Weir: Editing by Sharon Singleton)
