Demonstrators take to the streets as half of a protest organized by Committee Towards Winter Olympics on the day of the opening ceremony for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, in the neighborhood of Segesta, in Milan, Italy, on Friday. MILAN, Italy — A whole bunch of protesters chanted slogans, blew whistles and set off flares at a rally on Friday to oppose the presence in Italy of U.S. immigration brokers and the closure of streets ahead of the Milan Cortina Winter Video games’ opening ceremony.
The reported presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to guard Individuals across the Olympics has galvanized protests, given their front-line position in U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation push at dwelling.
“ICE OUT” and “ICE ought to be in my drinks not my metropolis” learn some of the banners held by the student-led demonstrators.
Blowing plastic whistles, which have turn into an emblem of anti-ICE rallies in the U.S., the demonstrators in Milan additionally urged visiting U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to go dwelling.
“I assumed that this was a very good alternative to point out that the remainder of the world will not be OK with what’s taking place in Minnesota,” stated Katie Legare, a protester from Minnesota presently finding out in Europe, in reference to ICE brokers’ killing of two U.S. residents in her dwelling metropolis.
“It is not OK to only acquiesce and go along with the established order. However to say there’s one thing improper that is taking place and to talk out.”
Italy’s authorities has stated the controversy is unfounded, with ICE personnel not on the streets through the Olympics and solely operatives from its Homeland Safety Investigations in Italy understanding of U.S. diplomatic missions.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has additionally stated no brokers from ICE had been offering safety for Staff USA.
With the opening ceremony due on Friday night, Italian authorities ordered colleges in central Milan to stay shut and blocked entry to some areas to bolster safety and ease site visitors disruptions.
Within the afternoon, a separate demonstration was held in a sq. close to the San Siro stadium, the place the opening ceremony will happen.
Just a few hundred individuals — together with a committee of public-housing tenants protesting in opposition to the excessive price of dwelling, and the Unsustainable Olympics Committee, which accuses the federal government of funneling public funds reasonably than supporting lower-income residents — marched in opposition to what they see because the social and financial affect of the Video games.
Protesters say the Olympics are a waste of cash and sources whereas housing costs are unaffordable and public assembly locations scarce. Some demonstrators additionally chanted slogans criticizing Israel and expressing assist for Palestinians.
On Thursday, environmental group Greenpeace staged a protest in entrance of Milan’s cathedral, protesting the position of Italian oil main Eni ENI.MI as a sponsor of the Video games.
In a while Friday a torchlit march organized by a protest motion in opposition to the Video games is anticipated in an space near the location of the opening ceremony.
–Reuters, particular to Discipline Stage Media
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