Immigration Is Not Just and American Issue

Following the American news media, one would often think that America is the only nation where a surge of immigrants seeking a better life is a problem for the citizenry and governmental services.  As a piece in the New York Times makes clear, its truly a northern western hemisphere problem.  What drives it?  Ultimately, repressive religious regimes that generally overlap with corrupt and dysfunctional governments that seem either indifferent to or incapable of providing for the needs of their citizens.  In Europe, the flow of immigrants - some of whom risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean in small boats come from (i) the repressive and war torn Middle East where incompetent/utterly corrupt/undemocratic governments battle with religious extremists and (ii) Africa where corruption is rampant and now American Christofascists are helping to push religious extremism and the embrace of ignorance.  Like the USA, the countries of Europe are not ready for the influx.  Here are highlights from the New York Times piece that focuses on Italy in particular:

The depressed outskirts of Italian cities are ticking time bombs; far from the eyes of well-heeled vacationers perambulating the Colosseum, the country’s fuse is sputtering short.

An entire suburban district of Rome — Tor Sapienza — recently took to the streets to protest an influx of recent immigrants, blaming them for robberies and violence and drawing a public warning of an impending “social emergency” from Pope Francis. In the Corvetto and Giambellino neighborhoods of Milan, clashes broke out over the eviction of squatters. Rioting residents in outlying areas of Naples kicked police cars, making it clear that they have more faith in the Camorra, the local Mafia, than in officialdom.  

“What else is new?” people might wonder in France or Britain. To them, unrest in the banlieues and council estates is nothing new. Even in Italy, suburban unrest is an old story.

But what is surprising now, even to Italians, is the cause of the unrest. Half a century ago, our migrants came from the south of the country, not the south of the planet. . . . Today, hundreds of people from Africa and the Middle East risk their lives at sea to land in Sicily and Calabria. Many of them manage to find their way north. The swiftness of their arrival, and the fact that they have accumulated on the edge of the cities, are reasons for concern, if only because of how poorly Italians are prepared for them.

The new arrivals find a home — or at least shelter — on city outskirts, where they come in conflict with longtime, mostly working-class, residents. It’s a dangerous mix: Some 90 percent of Italy’s population lives in or around a city or town, and, despite the efforts of the new government, Italy is the only country in Europe still in recession. Local administrations bear much of the blame, but they inherited a dramatic situation with inadequate, and often unlicensed, buildings, decrepit infrastructure and struggling public services. 

Yet perhaps all is not lost. The edges of Italy’s towns are not beyond redemption, even if they are faded and fraying. . . . . Projects are targeted and local — repairing schools, street lighting and transportation facilities, or reclaiming desolate public spaces.

“You can’t expect young people to show a spark of citizen awareness if buildings are abandoned and decaying, or recreation and sports grounds are unattractive and unsafe,” Mr. Piano pointed out. “I am convinced that beauty will save the world. Maybe one person at a time, but it will save the world.”  Beauty could start by saving Italy. After all, this is its home.

Here in America, Republicans in particular want to spend nothing on infrastructure renewal or certainly do not want to invest in poor neighborhoods - per the Christofascists' the poor deserve their fate after all - so the problem continues to fester.   Meanwhile, too many Americans wonder why immigrants don't assimilate more quickly.