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The Italian government introduced a new measure last week to cope with illegal mass migration. A six-month national state of emergency was announced to cope with the rapidly increasing number of illegal migrants arriving via the Mediterranean to the country. The aim of the measure was to give further leeway to agencies dealing with migrants to carry out with urgency extraordinary measures to reduce congestion. In addition, the state of emergency is set to support new structures, suitable both for sheltering as well as the processing and repatriation of migrants who dont have the requisites to stay.

The decision of Rome came as no surprise. Italy has been the epicenter of the European migration crisis since 2013. As a major frontline state on the Central Mediterranean Route, Italy saw more than 880,200 migrants arrive on its shores since 2014.

That said, the increase in illegal crossings via the Mediterranean the past few years was beyond the expected. While in 2019 Italy recorded just 11,470 irregular border crossings (IBCs) by sea, numbers rose to 34,150 in 2020, 67,450 in 2021 and 102,529 in 2022. That is a 794 percent increase in just three years. Numbers kept climbing in 2023; in the first three months of 2023, IBCs reached 26,800, compared to 6,400 during the same period in 2022, a 317 percent increase. If trends do not change, a new record could be reached this year, exceeding the 2016 one where more than 181,000 IBCs were registered

It should also be noted that Italy is not only struggling on the Mediterranean front, but on its land borders as well. The Trieste region, which lies on the Western Balkan irregular migration route, experienced a five-fold increase in illegal arrivals during the last three months of 2022 compared to the same period the previous year. This comes as no surprise since the Western Balkan Route saw overall a 136 percent increase of IBCs in 2022. Forty-five percent of all IBCs in Europe that year over 145,600 entries occurred via this region.

Croatia and Slovenia are also witnessing a flood of irregular migrants. Since October 2022, the Croatian city of Rijeka, near the Slovenian and Italian borders, has been experiencing 200 daily arrivals. Taking into account the small population of the city (around 110,000), we can see how the number of irregular migrants is putting a huge burden on its social services, even if most migrants later move towards to Italy. To address the situation, the three countries (Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy) set up a gatekeeper agreement in late March. Slovenia and Italy agreed to send joint police patrols to their neighbor to facilitate controls of illegal immigrants in Croatia, while the Croatian authorities agreed to focus on the border area. The key for all three countries is to prevent the re-introduction of border control within the Schengen zone, which would significantly disadvantage the life of commuting workers and tourists between the three countries.

At this stage, it is difficult to predict how this state of emergency set up by Italy is to contribute to the solution of the current migrant crisis. The aim is to achieve quicker immigration procedures and deportations. But the Achilles' heel of the measure is whether third countries will accept back their citizens. Italy has been using the carrot and stick policy. One example is with Tunisia; Italy pushed for an aid package and the possible breakout from international isolation of the government of Kais Saied to help Tunis to improve its economic situation. In return, the North African country was supposed to stop illegal migrants. But it is still questionable how effective this policy will be.

In addition, the state of emergency does nothing to prevent people from embarking in Libya. According to the Italian minister of defense, Guido Crosetto, Russia and the Wagner Group are weaponizing illegal immigration from Libya to undermine the stability of Italy, which is a supporter of Ukraine in its war against Moscows aggression. Similar remarks were made by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who said during a visit to Israel that it was worrying how many migrants came from areas "controlled by the Wagner group". Italy has very limited influence in the Eastern part of Libya which is under the control of Halifa Hafter, who is the biggest ally of Russia in the country, and the mercenaries.

Nevertheless, it does not mean that Rome cannot gain from this measure. In 2023, around 58 percent of all sea arrivals to Italy were from Tunisia, followed by 38 percent from Libya, which in the past had been the main country of departure. It means that an enhanced cooperation with Tunis including deportation back to North Africa could significantly reduce the number of people who leave the southern shores of the Mediterranean, both through the increased activity of the Tunisian coast guard (which, just in 2022, prevented 38,400 people from crossing to Italy) and the effects of deterrence that encourage people to think twice before crossing in view of the heavy financial costs of illegal crossing thousands of dollars and the possibility of their being sent back.

I will be revisiting the subject in the coming months to examine whether Italys plan has worked, and how extraordinary measures and international cooperation have influenced the flow of illegal immigration to Italy.

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Illegal Immigrants Ante Portas: Italy Declares a State of Emergency - Immigration Blog

News

By Victor Nava

April 18, 2023 | 8:01pm

The Biden administrations top two immigration officials on Tuesday painted a grim picture of whats in store for the southern border when Title 42 ends next month warning lawmakers, in separate testimony, of an expected surge in border crossings and a shortage of beds at detention facilities.

We do anticipate a surge in the number of encounters, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday, acknowledging that the end of the pandemic-era policy that allowed for the swift deportation of migrants will lead to thousands more illegal immigrants entering the country each day.

Mayorkas didnt provide the panel with an estimate on how many more migrants will be allowed to enter the country after the end of Title 42, but he did not push back when one senator suggested that the amount of asylum seekers crossing the border could double to 11,000 per day in May.

During the hearing, the DHS chief called border security a top priority and insisted his department was working to find solutions to mitigate the expected surge, including with its request for $4.7 billion in emergency funding designated for a Southwest Border Contingency Fund.

The fund, included in President Bidens 2024 budget request, would provide additional resources to DHS in the event increased migration along the Southwest border exceeds the expected number of encounters, Mayorkas said.

Republican lawmakerswere not buying his assurances.

You just sit there with a blank look on your face, said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) pledged to introduce a vote of no confidence resolution against the secretary.

I stand at the ready to receive articles of impeachment from the House and conduct an impeachment trial in this body, Marshall said. But in the meantime, I think the Senate must show our colleagues in the House that weve had enough of the failures from the Department of Homeland Security and believe that the secretary is not fit to faithfully carry out the duties of his office.

In the House, meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Tae Johnson on Tuesday explained to lawmakers that his agency doesnt have enough beds and enough funding for all migrants caught crossing the border illegally after Bidens budget slashed detention capacity by about a quarter.

When asked by Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, what is required for ICE and DHS to detain all eligible migrants without having to release any due to bed or budget constraints, Johnson responded, More beds than probably exist in the public sector sector and funding that we dont have.

Johnson said that he had sought thousands more beds for detainees in the agencys new budget, which the Biden administration rejected giving him a maximum of 34,000 detention beds.

The ICE chief further told the panel that COVID-19 restrictions also limit his ability to fill up all the beds currently at his disposal.

And in reality, he cant even fill all of those because of coronavirus restrictions.

Were using about 73% of our capacity right now, Johnson noted.

On any given year, even before COVID, we can only detain about 200,000 people a year, maybe in some of the better years up to 250,000 in a given year. So, you do have to make tough choices on how to use your resources, he added.

In fiscal year 2022, border officials encountered a record 2.3 million migrants attempting to cross into the US.

Johnson told the House Appropriations Committee that with the current lay of the land, thousands of migrants apprehended at the border will have to be released before they can be deported including some who may have criminal records.

Most of the folks we are releasing from custody will not have a criminal history, Johnson said, before acknowledging that ICE will have a tough time verifying criminal histories for migrants hailing from dozens of countries.

We dont have access to many of those countries records, Johnson admitted.

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Danielle Chanzes, the Florida Immigrant Coalition organizer for north central Florida, said she worries about anyone qualifying as a criminal if proposed House Bill 1617 and Senate Bill 1718 get signed into law.

These bills were proposed by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia and Rep. Kiyan Michael and specifically target unlawful immigration.

Under these legislations, hospitals would be required to collect a patients immigration status on admission, private employers would have to verify a persons employment eligibility through the E-Verify system, and counties would be banned from providing funds to organizations issuing identification documents to individuals who do not provide proof of lawful presence and more.

Immigrant Program Manager for the Rural Womens Health Project, Ethan Maia de Needell, said his organization is concerned by the lack of knowledge about these bills within the community.

We talk to people about these bills [and] no one seems to be aware of it, he said. It is only by raising peoples awareness that we can actually begin to fight back.

Chanzes and Veronica Robleto, the program director and legal navigator for the Human Rights Coalition of Alachua County, will host an information session on Zoom at 7 p.m. on April 18, as an effort to raise awareness about these bills among Spanish-speaking Floridians.

We want to inform the community about what these bills are proposing and what that will mean if and when they become law, Robleto said. We will also include some know your rights information so that people are aware of their constitutional rights and how to exercise them to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

As to why the session will only be available in Spanish, Robleto said she hasnt received requests to have it in other languages.

On April 5, the Human Rights Coalition of Alachua County, the Gainesville Immigrant Neighborhood Inclusion Initiative and the Rural Womens Health Project joined the Florida Immigrant Coalitions statewide Day of Action.

Members of these organizations held rallies across the state to express their concerns about HB1617 and SB1718.

Local organizations and their allies gathered at the southwest corner of University Avenue and 13th Street.

Dont give in to racist fears, immigrants are welcome here, one chanted as others held signs and flags and distributed fact sheets to passersby.

If signed into law, these bills will be enforced starting July 1.

Immigrants are here and theyre not leaving, Chanzes said during the protest.

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Gainesville organizations react to proposed bills targeting illegal ... - WUFT

French and British authorities have ordered infrared panoramic detection systems from French company HGH to help reduce illegal immigration across the English Channel.

The two countries have previously signed a smart border agreement worth 72.2 million euros for the period 2022-2023. The aim is to use advanced technologies to secure the coastline and prevent people drowning onboard makeshift boats.

HGH will provide its SPYNEL solutions which allow for permanent and continuous surveillance. They will be used in addition to the surveillance provided by patrols, drones and planes already used to monitor the 150 kilometers of coastline along the Nord and Pas-de-Calais region.

Equipped with the CYCLOPE software, SPYNEL panoramic surveillance cameras monitor day and night over a 10-kilometer radius. The infrared sensors instantly alert police command centers if migrants are detected taking boat to sea.

"Image processing and artificial intelligence algorithms have been developed on the CYCLOPE software to trigger an alarm only in case of detection of groups of people near the water, to avoid false alarms and act quickly. The SPYNEL solution is ideal for this need because it allows continuous and intelligent monitoring of the coastline over a very long distance," says Edouard Campana, responsible for the SPYNEL range at HGH.

More than 45,000 migrants reached the English coast illegally in 2022 by crossing the Channel on makeshift boats. Since 2014, more than 200 people have lost their lives trying to cross the Channel from the northern coast of France.

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New Sensors Expected To Reduce Illegal Immigration - MarineLink

Austin, TX, 25 seconds ago Federal prosecutors announced a 39-year-old Mexican illegal immigrant residing in Edinburg received a two-year prison sentence after her conviction on a charge of harboring aliens.

In a news release, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said the felon was an indispensable link in the chain of events that resulted in another illegal immigrants death. Federal Judge Randy Crane handed down the sentence on Thursday.

Prosecutors say Sanjuana Garcia-Salazar, who is in custody after pleading guilty in November, admitted to keeping as many as 60 illegal aliens in a house each week for pecuniary gain. Police found her in the home with 21 illegal immigrants after finding a dead Guatemalan man in Edna in September 2022, the DOJ said.

She further acknowledged knowing about the Guatemalan male whom she had harbored at her residence. She noted he had a really bad cough before being transported away from her residence, the news release said.

The government added Garcia-Salazar is likely to be placed in removal proceedings upon the completion of her prison sentence.

U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani commented on the gravity of the conviction.

Leaving a migrants dead body on the side of the road is a growing and common tragedy along the southern border and shows the callousness of human smugglers, Hamdani said. Todays sentence is a message that our office will aggressively prosecute those who smuggle migrants and harbor migrants, treating them as chattel and endangering their lives solely for profit.

The DOJ credited federal border patrol agents and Jackson County law enforcement for the investigation into Garcia-Salazar.

Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) placed a bill on his priority list this session to create a state border protection unit and declare Texas is under invasion from drug trafficking and other criminal activity that accompanies illegal immigration.

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McAllen Federal Judge Sentences Illegal Alien to Two Years in ... - The Texan