Italy has a large immigrant population that is rapidly growing. Currently, there are believed to be 4.3 million immigrants in Italy, totaling 7.1% of the Italian population (Kington). In Turin itself, 3-4% of the city's residents are non-natives (Rubo). The huge influx of immigrants into Italy and, more specifically, Turin in the last couple of decades has not come without its side-effects. Most of the side-effects, however, are not necessarily the result of the immigrants coming into Italy but, instead, a result of the way that the Italian government deals with the immigrants. The externalities that result from the Italian government's policies toward immigrants affect not only the immigrants but also the Italians and the country of Italy as a whole. It is up to the Italian people to convince their government to reform their policies in regard to Italy's immigrant population.
Current Italian immigration policies give many immigrants a refugee status when they are not necessarily refugees, which means that the government is responsible to provide for them. Also, the government allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country as long as they do not work. Moreover, the government's bureaucracy makes it difficult for any immigrants to become true residents and citizens of Italy. These governmental policies toward immigrants have harsh side-effects.
The direct result of these policies is that immigrants who end up frozen in refugee status or who have arrived in Italy illegally are not able to work legally, yet they end up benefiting from Italy's many welfare programs (as free-riders) without paying taxes to support those welfare programs. The externalities that come about because of those governmental policies have a much larger impact than it might appear when looking at this one direct result of the governmental policies. First of all, those governmental policies result in higher taxes on those who have legal jobs and pay taxes to support the country's welfare programs because there is a greater demand for government healthcare that is not being accommodated by a greater number of tax-paying workers. Second, racism grows among Italians because the immigrants are living off of the Italian welfare system without contributing to it, causing a strong dislike for all immigrants among the general Italian population. Third, because many of the immigrants cannot work legally, beggars cover the large cities of Italy, reducing the attractiveness of the cities to tourists who are a large source of income to many of Italy's cities (“The World Factbook: Italy”). Finally, immigrants who get distressed because of their inability to provide for themselves end up in illegal activities such as gangs, riots, work in the black market, and stealing. This externality has two other side-effects: crime rates rise in Italy and Italy's growing black market causes greater and greater economic failure in the country. As crime rates rise in Italy, families and individuals feel less safe in their homes and neighborhoods – an externality of the government's policies that affects virtually all Italians (Schillaci). Also, as the black market grows in Italy (it is currently estimated to account for 20% of the Italian economy), the Italian Treasury is deprived of more and more money (some say 100 billion euro per year), which could have been used to provide for the large refugee population and to accommodate the greater number of citizens currently reliant on welfare in Italy (Alderman). In the end, immigrants who are unable to get legal work find themselves in poverty, and Italians – who are forced to pay higher taxes because of the immigrant population who is living off of welfare programs they do not contribute to – may find themselves in poverty or closer to it also. All of the externalities of the government's current policies toward immigrants lead up to an overall higher poverty rate in Italy and a weaker Italian economy.
What needs to be done about it? Italians need to encourage their government to be more decisive in regard to immigrants. Most of the immigrants want a stable, legal job, but they are simply unable to get one (Schillaci). If they were made legal residents, they would find legal jobs, contribute to the welfare system instead of only benefiting from it, and become productive citizens who would contribute to the overall growth of the Italian economy. If the government is not willing to allow immigrants access to Italian jobs, then the immigrants need to be sent back to their countries. Legal workers' taxes cannot support the entire immigrant population single-handed. The Italian people need to find their voice and recognize the plight of the immigrants as well as the effect that plight has on their own everyday lives. They need to encourage their government to change its policies toward immigrants so that either the immigrants will be fully integrated into Italian society, or they will be sent home. Leaving them frozen in refugee status or allowing them to live in Italy illegally as long as they do not get a legal job is inhumane. It is time for Italians to speak up on behalf of the immigrants, themselves, and their country. The government's policies toward immigrants must change.
References
Alderman, Liz. "A Daunting Path to Prosperity." The New York Times. Accessed December 7, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/business/economy/
italy-faces-a-long-list-of-barriers-to-growth.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Kington, Tom. "Italy Wakes Up to the Realities of Immigration." The Guardian . Accessed December 7, 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/21/italy-milan-race-riots.
Rubo, Viviana. "Urban Regeneration and Integration in Turin (Italy): the Example of Porta Palazzo / The Gate Project." Forum -- Institute for Multicultural Affairs. Accessed December 7, 2012. http://www.forum.nl/Portals/Woonateliers/
Urban%20regeneration%20and%20integration%20in%20Turin%20(Italy).pdf.
Schillaci, Rossella. Altra Europa. DVD. Directed by Rossella Schillaci. Italy: Azul Film.
"The World Factbook: Italy." Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed December 7, 2012. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html.
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