Expulsions of asylum seekers from Italy have increased by about 30% since Mr Berlusconi's conservative coalition came to power promising to take a tough line on refugees. March 20, 2002. The Italian Government has announced a state of emergency to deal with the influx of immigrants landing on its shores (4,720-mile or 7,600-kilometre coastline). June 2002: The Italian Parliament approved tougher immigration legislation in June 2002 on a 279-203 vote. The new Italian law increases patrols of Italy's coastlines and requires non-EU citizens to be fingerprinted in order to remain in Italy. Residence permits are to be linked to work permits, so that non-EU foreigners without jobs would have to leave within six months, down from 12 months- some 15,000 non-EU foreigners arrived in Italy to seek jobs in 2001. Italian employers sponsoring foreign workers have to provide them with housing and post a bond to cover the cost of removing the foreign worker.
source: http://pstalker.com