‘We don’t want them here’: Protesters in Milan protest ICE agents at Winter Olympics

Protester with a sign that says “No ICE in Milan” in a protest on January 31st. Associated Press/Antonio Calanni Hundreds of protesters gathered this Saturday (31) in Milan, Italy, to protest the presence of agents from ICE, the US Federal Immigration Agency, during the Winter Olympic Games, which are scheduled to begin on February 6. The ICE division was selected to participate in the security of the American Olympic delegation and the agents must be located in a control room, without working directly on the streets. However, this did not stop protesters from gathering in Piazza XXV Aprile, a square that honors the date of Italy’s liberation from Nazi fascism in 1945. The protest attracted members of the Democratic Party (left-wing), the CGIL trade union confederation and ANPI, organizations that preserve the memory of Italian partisan resistance during the Second World War, as well as many other people. Protesters at an anti-ICE protest in Milan on January 31st. Associated Press/Antonio Calanni Outrage over the American situation Protesters told the Associated Press that the protests are not only about the presence of agents, but also against what many of those present described as a growing wave of fascism in the United States. “No, thank you. From Minnesota to the world, alongside everyone fighting for human rights,” read one banner, and “‘Never again’ means ‘never again’ for anyone,” read another. A third made a pun on the word “ice” and a popular Italian drink: “ICE only in Spritz”. Protester at an anti-ICE protest in Milan on January 31st. Associated Press/Antonio Calanni Protester Silvana Grassi held a sign that said “ICE = Gestapo.” She said scenes of ICE agents in Minneapolis shooting and killing protesters and detaining children were deeply disturbing. “It makes me want to cry just thinking about it,” Grassi said. “It’s too terrible. How did they elect such a terrible, evil man?” The news of the dispatch of ICE agents caused a negative repercussion for the Italian government. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said they were not welcome. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi was summoned to Parliament to testify about the deployment this week. See the videos that are trending on g1 ICE cross-border unit The ICE agents who will be sent to Milan are not from the same unit as the immigration agents who work in Minnesota and other American cities. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an ICE unit focused on cross-border crimes, often sends its agents to overseas events, such as the Olympics, to assist with security. The arm of ICE that is on the front lines of immigration enforcement in the U.S. is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations (EORO), and there is no indication that its agents are being deployed to Italy. “Even if they’re not the same, we don’t want them here,” Grassi said. Paolo Bortoletto, who was also holding a banner, knew that the agents would have an investigative role and not ostensible policing. Still, he said, “We don’t want them in our country. We are a peaceful country. We don’t want fascists. It’s their ideas that bother us.”

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