The Italian government announced on Wednesday, the 11th, that it will accept the return of its citizens who are living illegally in the United States. The measure aims to prevent these immigrants from being taken to the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, in Cuba.
The initiative was confirmed by the Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani. “The first information coming from the [American] Department of Homeland Security tells us that Guantanamo would be used for illegal immigrants from countries that do not accept repatriations,” he said.
The proposal to use Guantanamo to detain illegal aliens was announced in January by the US president, Donald Trump. According to the American press, the first targets would be nationals of countries that refuse to take their citizens back.
Tajani denied that Italians are included in this scenario. “Therefore, there is no possibility that our citizens will be sent there,” he said. He stressed that there has not yet been an official statement from the US government about the use of the prison in relation to Italians.
The minister said he would discuss the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a call scheduled for Thursday, the 12th. “We are ready to bring the Italians and I do not see any major dangers for Italians who are illegally [in the US],” he added.
To date, there is no data on how many Italian citizens live illegally in the United States.
