Olympics-Hundreds protest in Milan over US ICE role in Games security

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.

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)

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