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Immigration has become a central battleground in Italy’s election, along with fear of crime, a battered economy, and disgust with political incumbents. Parties of the right are pledging to kick out hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants.
The governing center-left, which argues there are no simple solutions, is struggling to prevent an erosion of its vote—even in bastions such as Umbertide, a town once so solidly left-wing that local cynics called it “little Stalingrad.”
Italy is at the forefront of Europe’s migration crisis, now that the Balkans and other paths to Europe have become less passable for people from the poor and war-torn regions nearby. More than 750,000 migrants have reached Italy’s shores since 2011, most of them rescued from rickety boats while trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa.
A survey by research institute Demos & Pi in November found that 43% of Italians think immigrants represent a danger to public order and people’s safety, up from 33% in 2015. ...
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