There has been a running debate in Italy lately. Immigration is on the rise and many citizens have taken it into their own hands to handle. Last month Abdul William Guibre was beaten to death with a metal rod. He was accused of stealing money from a local coffee shop in Milan. Authorities have said that he potentially was in fact stealing cookies. The shop owner and his son are the ones that have committed the brutal crime. As they were beating Guibre they were shouting racial slurs at him. No one should be killed for stealing “cookies”. This is one of the many hate crimes that has taken place within past months, but one of the most severe that has happened.
Other attacks have been made on immigrants. For example a Chinese man was beaten in a back alley. Amina Sheikh a 51 year old woman was strip-searched in an airport. Many speculate that she was interegated because she was an immigrant, that’s profiling.
Pope Benedict XVI has even seen tension has risen between immigrants and the citizens of Italy. The Pope said he sees “worrisome new signs of deepening social tensions”.
I believe that new laws should be set in place in order to protect immigrants in Italy and other countries. If these new laws are acted upon, lives will be saved.

The New York Times
Rachel Donadio
International: Page A5
Monday, October 13, 2008