Italy: Fighting Crime Through Immigration Control?

We came across an interesting article in the New York Times today on Italy's new method of helping to fight crime in the country. They are deploying 3,00 military personnel to trains, subways and various embassies to be on watch for illegal immigrants. The newly elected Italian government feel that this beefed up security will be a visible "deterrent to criminals" and to let them know that crime is a serious issue.

Some critics of this plan see as accomplishing the opposite of its goals. They feel that military presence will convey the idea that the issue of immigration and crime is much worse than it actually is and people will end up feeling less secure rather than more.

This all seems to parallel many of the recent immigration debates occurring here in the United States. This idea that illegal immigration brings more crime with it and that stopping illegal immigration will decrease crime. Is this a just way of thinking? Is it appropriate to deploy military personnel for this purpose as some kind of scare tactic? Where is the social justice in assuming that an illegal, or undocumented, person is an automatic source of crime?

Read The New York Times Article Here