By Emilio Parodi
MILAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Hundreds 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 agents and the closure of streets ahead of the Milano Cortina Winter Games' opening ceremony.
The reported presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to protect Americans around the Olympics has galvanised protests given their front-line role in U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation push at home.
"ICE OUT" and "ICE should be in my drinks not my city" read some of the banners held by the student-led demonstrators.
Blowing plastic whistles, which have become a symbol of anti-ICE rallies in the U.S., the demonstrators in Milan also urged visiting U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to go home.
"I thought that this was a good opportunity to show that the rest of the world is not okay with what's happening in Minnesota," said Katie Legare, a protester from Minnesota currently studying in Europe, in reference to ICE agents' killing of two U.S. citizens in her home city.
"It's not okay to just acquiesce and go with the status quo. But to say there's something wrong that's happening and to speak out."
Italy's government has said the controversy is unfounded, with ICE personnel not on the streets during the Olympics and only operatives from its Homeland Security Investigations in Italy working out of U.S. diplomatic missions.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has also said no agents from ICE were providing security for Team USA.
MORE PROTESTS
With the opening ceremony due on Friday evening, Italian authorities ordered schools in central Milan to remain shut and blocked access to some areas to bolster security and ease traffic disruptions.
In the afternoon, a separate demonstration was held in a square near the San Siro stadium, where the opening ceremony will take place.
A few hundred people - including a committee of public-housing tenants protesting against the high cost of living, and the Unsustainable Olympics Committee, which accuses the government of funnelling public funds rather than supporting lower‑income residents - marched against what they see as the social and economic impact of the Games.
Protesters say the Olympics are a waste of money and resources while housing prices are unaffordable and public meeting places scarce. Some demonstrators also chanted slogans criticising Israel and expressing support for Palestinians.
On Thursday, environmental group Greenpeace staged a protest in front of Milan's cathedral, protesting the role of Italian oil major Eni as a sponsor of the Games.
Later on Friday a torchlit march organised by a protest movement against the Games is expected in an area close to the site of the opening ceremony.
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, additional reporting by Leonardo Benassatto and Iain Axon, writing by Elisa Anzolin and Andrea Mandala editing by Pritha Sarkar, Andrew Cawthorne and Christian Radnedge)
