Commentary
Migrants are still fodder for propaganda
The Italian government aims to exploit immigration in two ways at once: as political capital, whipping up racism and a sense of insecurity, and as a workforce open to blackmail.
For the Italian government’s narrative, the iron fist against migrants who land by sea and the record-breaking quotas in the Flow Decree for those who fly in are two halves of the same design. “We decide who enters Italy,” Giorgia Meloni keeps repeating. From that angle, backing regimes that torture refugees, hounding NGO rescue ships and opening offshore centers in Albania that clash with higher-level norms all dovetail neatly with a promise of another 500,000 legal entries of foreign workers.
In truth, the only meeting point between those two lines is the government’s self-interest. The first one serves to tell right-wing voters: we are doing exactly what you elected us for, continuing the anti-migrant crusades we fueled from the opposition benches. The second answers the hard needs of Italy’s economic and demographic structure, because once you get off social media and turn off the TV, what remain are the employers – especially friends and donors of the government parties – who cannot find labor.
The only way to see these two plans as consistent is through the lens of the majority aiming to exploiting immigration in two ways at once: as political capital, whipping up racism and a sense of insecurity that translates into liberty-destroying measures for both foreigners and Italians; and as a workforce open to blackmail through the link between work and residency. That is the distinctive design of the Bossi-Fini law that nobody wants to scrap: when a migrant is fired from their job, the threat of deportation looms, pushing people to accept any job terms and swallow any abuse.
Little more than a year ago, the Bank of Italy published a report estimating that by 2040 the country could have 5.4 million fewer people of working age, leading to a 13% drop in GDP. The intelligence services’ annual review paints an even starker picture. The Prime Minister’s office is very familiar with those numbers. It knows that the roughly 90,000 sea arrivals averaged each year over the past decade make only a tiny dent in the problem – many travelers move on to other states. It also knows that even if Meloni’s decrees really manage to bring in one million newcomers over six years – three already past and three to come – this would still not be enough to cover the gap.
What is more, that target will not be met, because the real entry numbers are only a small fraction of those touted. This failure stems only partly from scams and criminal networks that exploit the situation at the borders for profit. The deeper cause is structural: the Flows Decree cannot make the two curves that ought to intersect – the intention to emigrate and the need for immigrant labor – actually meet. The supposed “virtual match” of supply and demand is a theoretical hope that real-world experience has refuted again and again.
Other, perfectly workable avenues do exist: from the old sponsorship system, which once let foreign citizens enter Italy through a guarantor already resident in the country, to permanent regularization mechanisms that would allow people who already live and work here to step out of the shadows.
Because the people are the same; the only difference is whether they can obtain documents. Italy even grants entry quotas only to countries that agree to accept deportees, yet in agriculture huge numbers of undocumented workers come from the very nations for which the quotas are later set.
So more regular arrivals are welcome, provided they are real. But the needs of those who land by whatever means must also be met. First of all, through a reception system removed from the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry and placed under Labor and Social Policies, to give new residents a genuine chance with quality services, social integration programs and skill training – and then with truly universal welfare measures.
That approach would create decent employment for many professionals – teachers, trainers, psychologists, social service workers – who in Italy face daily precariousness and joblessness. It would be an excellent way to reduce marginalization and tensions between migrants and residents, to prove that immigration as a whole is an opportunity for everyone. But if that happened, what would the right wing build its support on?
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/cosi-i-migranti-restano-merce-per-la-propaganda on 2025-07-01