New Rome mayor promises severe measures against illegal immigrants

Gianni Alemanno, Rome’s newly elected mayor said in his first conference that he would take all necessary measures to guarantee the security of Rome’s citizens. He added that he would dedicate his first action to the husband of Giovanna Reggiani, an Italian woman presumed to be killed by Romanian illegal immigrant Romulus Nicolae Mailat last autumn. Alemanno said that he planned to send back home some 20,000 illegal immigrants who commit crimes in Rome.

For the first time in the last 15 years, Rome’s City Hall was taken over by a right wing candidate. Alemanno won with 53.6% against center-leftist Francesco Rutelli’s 46.3%. Alemanno took up themes like public safety and pinpointed actions to be taken against illegal immigration.

In the same vein, the newly elected right wing government plans to set up a new requirement for immigrants wishing to stay in Italy more than three months. Thus, immigrants will have to earn a minimum salary per month to be able to settle in Italy, future Foreign minister Franco Frattini said.

Frattini did not mention the required sum but he added that the sum will meet the poverty break even point in his country. According to the Italian Statistics Institute, a family is considered poor if its total earnings per month is lower than 970 euro.