Italy set to approve tough immigration bill

Italy’s lower house of parliament approved stiffer measures to combat illegal immigration today - including provisions to fingerprint non-EU nationals and to send some illegal migrants to jail for a year.

The bill, which was approved 279-203 with the votes of Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s conservatives, needs approval from the Senate to become a law.

The new legislation, part of a crackdown on immigration promised by the premier, calls for the immediate expulsion of illegal immigrants.

It would also allow authorities to put them in jail for up to one year if they are found back on Italian soil after having already been expelled once.

‘‘We need to show people who want to arrive here illegally that we are able to kick them out,’’ said one of the sponsors of the bill, Reforms minister and Northern League leader Umberto Bossi.

Currently, illegal immigrants are repatriated to their home countries, usually after a stay in a detention centre.

The bill was harshly criticized by opposition MPs, who said it was ‘‘discriminatory’’ and ‘‘racist’’.

Some have walked out of the Chamber of Deputies in recent days as controversial measures were being voted on.

‘‘It is unworthy of a civil country to equate illegal immigrants with criminals,’’ Communist leader Oliviero Diliberto said ahead of today’s vote.