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200,000 in Rome in solidarity with immigrants
By
John Catalinotto
Published Oct 25, 2009 10:34 PM
Denouncing a viciously racist antiimmigrant law passed by the government
of scandal-ridden billionaire media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, as many as
200,000 people marched from the Piazza della Repubblica to the Roman forum on
Oct. 17. The CGIL labor confederation played a major role in the march along
with immigrants from Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and South Asia.
The new law fines immigrants between 5,000 and 10,000 euros (7,400 to
14,900 dollars) for entering or living in Italy without legal papers and makes
this act a criminal offense. People who rent or provide housing to undocumented
immigrants can be jailed for up to three years.
This provocation awoke a strong reaction. Like the Sensenbrenner
Bill that was rejected in 2006 after a massive May Day turnout in the U.S., the
Italian law aroused a furious opposition and led to a massive turnout in what
has become, since 1989, an annual anti-racist protest in Italy. The
demonstrators also raised slogans against the oppression of lesbian, gay, bi
and trans people, and against the racist attacks directed at immigrants and
Roma people
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