Winter settles softly over Milan, the air holding a pale stillness as scaffolding rises and banners are tested for a future ceremony. The city moves with its familiar grace—trams whispering through intersections, cafés warming their windows—yet along certain streets, another rhythm gathers. Voices, measured and persistent, arrive like a low tide against stone.
In recent days, demonstrators have assembled to protest the presence of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit linked to preparations around the Winter Olympics. Their signs and chants do not rush; they linger. The language is deliberate, shaped by histories Italians know well, warning of what some describe as a slow hardening of borders and authority. The phrase “creeping fascism” appears not as a shout but as a caution, a reminder carried forward from one generation to the next.
The Olympics, by design, are a choreography of openness—athletes crossing borders with ease, flags converging under shared light. Security, too, is part of that choreography, often expanding quietly as the event draws closer. Officials have emphasized coordination and preparedness, a web of international cooperation meant to keep crowds safe. For critics, however, the involvement of a foreign immigration enforcement agency raises questions about mandate and symbolism, especially in a city that has long seen itself as a crossroads.
Milan’s streets have hosted such conversations before. From labor marches to peace rallies, public squares have served as places where policy meets memory. Protesters point to Europe’s recent past and present, noting how emergency measures can become habits, how temporary powers sometimes outlast the moment that summoned them. Their concern is less about a single unit than about the direction of travel—how easily the exceptional becomes ordinary.
Authorities have responded by underscoring the limited scope of the unit’s role and the legal frameworks governing cooperation. Planning documents and briefings speak in the neutral tones of logistics, of protocols and timelines. Between those lines, the city continues to prepare: venues nearing completion, transport links refined, volunteers trained to welcome the world.
As evening falls, the demonstrators disperse, footsteps fading into the wider hum. Milan remains poised between anticipation and reflection, its future event framed by a present debate. The Winter Olympics will arrive with their ceremonies and medals, but the questions raised now—about security, sovereignty, and the character of public space—will linger, like breath in cold air, visible for a moment longer before drifting on.
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Sources Associated Press Reuters BBC News The Guardian Corriere della Sera