Demonstrators in Milan protest against the role of US ICE forces at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Milan on Saturday to protest the deployment of ICE agents during the upcoming Winter Olympics, shrugging off the fact that agents would be stationed in control rooms rather than operating on the streets.

Protests in Piazza XXV Aprile, a square named after the day Italy was liberated from Nazi-fascist rule in 1945, attracted people from the left-leaning Democratic Party, the CGIL trade union federation and the ANPI organization that preserves the memory of Italian guerrilla resistance during World War II, among many others.

Organizers handed out plastic whistles, which participants blew to music blaring from the van. The protest also targeted agents from a division of ICE. Will participate in safety The American delegation opposed what many believed was spreading fascism in the United States.

One banner read, “No thank you, from Minnesota to the world, for standing with anyone fighting for human rights.” Another banner read, “Never again means never again to anyone,” and another read “Only Sprite with ice,” referring to a popular aperitif.

News of the deployment of ICE agents sparked a backlash in Italy. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said they are not welcome. Interior Minister Matteo Piandosi has been summoned to parliament this week to testify about the deployment.

Protester Silvana Grassi held a sign that read “Ice = Gestapo.” She said scenes of ICE agents shooting protesters and detaining children in Minneapolis were deeply disturbing.

“I want to cry just thinking about it,” Grassi said. “It’s horrible. How could they elect such a horrible, evil person?” “

The ICE agents who will be deployed to Milan are not from the same agents who are cracking down on immigration in Minnesota and other U.S. cities.

Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE that focuses on cross-border crimes, often sends agents to overseas events such as the Olympics to assist with security. In the United States, the ICE unit at the forefront of the immigration crackdown, known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, has given no indication that its officers will be sent to Italy.

“Even if they were different, we wouldn’t want them here,” Grassi said.

Paolo Bortoletto, who also carried a banner, realizes that the police’s job is to investigate, not the streets.

Still, he said, “We don’t want them in our country. We’re a peaceful country. We don’t want fascists. What bothers us is what they think.”

The Olympic Games will open on February 6, and US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the opening ceremony.