Italy Announces ‘Zero Tolerance’ for Illegal Aliens

In the wake of recent Islamic terror attacks in Berlin and Turkey, Italy’s National Director of Public Safety has announced a clampdown on illegal aliens as well as an increase in deportations.

National police chief Franco Gabrielli has sent a circular letter to the country’s police departments announcing a new “zero tolerance” policy toward illegal immigrants, including intensified checks and controls as well as expulsions of foreigners without residence permits.

In the letter, Gabrielli urges “maximum attention from the different branches of law enforcement to track down foreigners in irregular situations through targeted controls.” The police chief also directs law enforcement officers to “establish immediate contact with immigration officials to expedite deportation procedures” for those found to be in the country illegally.

The circular letter underscores the importance of the crackdown “in the current context of crisis in the face of increasing migratory pressures and an international scenario characterized by instability and threats.” The grave situation imposes on law enforcement a “maximum commitment” to keep the territory “under control,” it reads.

The new hardline policy was announced on New Year’s Eve and follows on a deadly truck attack in Berlin earlier this month, when Tunisian jihadist Anis Amri drove a tractor-trailer through a Christmas market, killing twelve and injuring dozens more. Amri was later shot in a skirmish with Italian police in Milan.

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