Integrazione o ReImmigrazione

Italy’s Urban Violence and the Failure of Second-Generation Integration

Written by

Fabio Loscerbo

in


The recent stabbing of a fifteen-year-old in Milan, injured while trying to stop a robbery involving other minors, is not merely a criminal incident. It is a symptom of a deeper structural failure in how Italy—and more broadly Europe—has managed the integration of second-generation immigrants.

From a U.S. perspective, the key point is this: the problem is not immigration as such, but the assumption that integration happens automatically over time. In Italy, as in many European countries, policymakers long believed that being born or raised on national territory, attending public schools, and speaking the local language would naturally produce social cohesion. That assumption is now proving incorrect.

Second generations occupy a legally and socially paradoxical position. They are formally included—often educated entirely within the host country—yet in many cases remain detached from the normative framework of the state, particularly with regard to respect for rules, authority, and public order. When violent behavior emerges at an early age, it signals not marginal poverty alone, but a breakdown in the transmission of legal norms.

The Italian case highlights a crucial difference between European and American approaches. In the United States, integration has historically been understood as a demanding process, tied to civic identity, shared rules, and enforceable consequences. In much of Europe, integration has been treated as a one-way entitlement rather than a reciprocal obligation. Rights were expanded, while duties were left vague or politically untouchable.

This has produced a governance gap. When integration fails, European legal systems often lack credible alternatives. Deportation mechanisms are weak, cultural non-compliance is tolerated in the name of social peace, and the state hesitates to assert authority for fear of political backlash. The result is not inclusion, but parallel social dynamics, particularly in urban areas.

The Milan stabbing should therefore be read as a warning. It shows what happens when the state loses the ability to distinguish between integration achieved and integration merely presumed. Public space becomes contested, violence normalizes, and minors are drawn into conflict at an early stage.

This is why the paradigm of “Integration or ReImmigration” has emerged in Italy. It is not a slogan, and it is not rooted in ethnic or racial logic. It is a governance framework based on a simple principle:
integration must be measurable, enforceable, and conditional. Where it succeeds, it should be fully protected. Where it fails, the legal system must provide alternative pathways, including structured return to the country of origin, consistent with fundamental rights.

Without this paradigm shift, episodes like the one in Milan will become increasingly common—not only in Italy, but across Europe. For American observers, the lesson is clear: multicultural societies require strong states, clear rules, and the political courage to enforce them. When integration is reduced to a rhetorical promise rather than a legal process, instability is the predictable outcome.

Avv. Fabio Loscerbo
EU Transparency Register Lobbyist – ID 280782895721-36

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