The government's new security bill cleared parliament's Lower House on Thursday and headed for the Senate but criticism from the center-left opposition, the Church and even groups like Amnesty International showed no signs of subsiding.
The bill, among other things, make illegal immigration a criminal offense, extends to six months the period immigrants and would-be asylum seekers can be kept in detention centers, authorises civilian patrols - which critics have likened to vigilante groups - and sets a maximum three-year jail term for landlords who rent to illegal aliens.
''This law was absolutely necessary and I believe we needed to tackle these questions using common sense and a sense of justice as well as with determination,'' Premier Silvio Berlusconi said after the final House vote.
''We couldn't cary on with a situation created by the Left that offered incentives for illegal immigration. It was important to send a strong signal,'' he added.
''By approving this security bill we also sent a message to organized crime saying we cannot accept immigrants who have no skills or talents to enter our labor market and thus end up filling the ranks of organised crime,'' Berlusconi observed.
The premier also said that he knew of no criticism from the Catholic Church or the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) to his policies
The CEI on Wednesday, after the government pushed through the bill three major amendments by confidence vote, complained that the bill failed to address the integration of foreigners and risked separating the children of illegal immigrants from their parents.
The passage of the bill was hailed by the Northern League party of Interior Minister Roberto Maroni which had made limiting immigration one of its battle cries.
According to Northern League House whip Roberto Cota, with the bill ''we kept our electoral campaign promise'' and the measure was ''a watershed between those who get things done and those who don't''.
In regard to criticism of the bill, Maroni said that ''things have been said about this bill that are just not true. Prejudices against it can be overcome by a close examination of the measures we have adopted''.
The interior minister later accused the opposition of ''advocating just hatred, prejudice and lies. They're wrong and we will not backtrack one millimeter''.
A Catholic association dedicated to helping immigrants and the homeless, CNCA, observed that should the measure be passed by the Senate without modification, ''it will be remembered as one of the most shameful bills ever passed in our country''.
The bill, CNCA added, ''violated several international treaties, the spirit of our own Constitution and basic ethical principles which we thought we all shared''.
''With this bill the government in one move has succeeded in pitting us against the United Nations, sparking outrage in the international community and provoking repeated condemnation from authorities in the Catholic Church. But much worse it has fueled the fire of fear and rage,'' CNCA said.
A statement from the Italian branch of Amnesty international said that ''what we are witnessing in Italy is a progressive erosion of the respect of human rights for groups which are already vulnerable like migrants, minorities and those seeking asylum''.
