A key government party came under fire on Tuesday after unveiling a series of proposals that would make it easier to expel immigrants and tougher for Italians to marry foreigners.
The Northern League, a member of the centre-right governing coalition, presented a raft of last-minute amendments to a so-called ''security bill'' currently in the Senate.
The most important proposal envisions the introduction of a points-based residence permit for foreigners, which would see points deducted for administrative violations or criminal activity. Once the points run out, foreigners would be expelled.
''There can be no room for anyone living here outside the rules,'' said the party's Senate whip, Federico Bricolo. ''Ensuring that all illegals are expelled would be a success''.
The amendments also suggest making it harder for marriages between foreigners and Italians.
According to Senator Sandro Mazzatorta, two-thirds of all marriages involving foreigners in Milan and the surrounding areas are ''fake'' and aimed at allowing immigrants the right to apply for citizenship.
''Our proposals would prevent any immigrant entering a marriage without first obtaining a residence permit and being in Italy legally,'' he said. ''Only then would the marriage be allowed to go ahead''.
Another proposal, apparently in response to fierce rows over new mosques, would require a local referendum before any non-Catholic places of worship could be built.
The amendments proposed by the Northern League were greeted with outrage by members of the opposition.
Livia Turco, a former minister and the Senate Social Affairs Committee representative for the largest opposition party, the Democratic Left, said the League was ''playing with fire'' by making ''impossible proposals''.
''It is wreaking real damage on the Italian public because it continues with its fibs, pretending it is able to halt immigration,'' she said.
The Democratic Left's spokesman on charity and non-governmental matters, Gian Luca Lioni, described the proposals as ''surreal propaganda''.
''This is the League's usual demagogy, designed to feed the implied prejudice that foreigners are usually criminals,'' he said.
Jean-Leonard Touadi, another member of the Democratic Left and Italy's third black MP, said the proposals turned residence permits into ''a kind of meritocratic favour instead of a civil status belonging to human beings''.
A leading figure with the Italian Socialist party Bobo Craxi described the proposed points-based permit as ''tragicomic''
''The League's sick obsession is not only pathetic but ridiculous,'' he added.
The bill currently in the Senate is one of several legislative measures proposed by the government as part of a ''security package'' unveiled in May.
The various bills and decrees contained in the package have resulted in a range of action, including the deployment of 3,000 troops in Italian cities and the closure of unauthorized Roma camps.
Other measures, such as the automatic expulsion of foreigners who commit crimes and a more difficult appeals procedures for asylum applications, have not yet been approved by parliament.
Many of the proposals contained in the security package sparked such outcry that the government eventually said it would ask the European Commission for its opinion.
The Commission gave the green light to some of the measures at the start of September but has yet to clear all of them.
