Virginia Raggi, mayor of Rome, sent a letter to the Prefect Paola Basilone to ask the Interior Ministry for "a moratorium on new arrivals" in the capital, given the "strong migratory presence and the continuous flow of foreign citizens". The text reads: "I find it impossible, as well as risky, to hypothesize additional reception structures, moreover of significant impact and numerical consistency on the municipal territory". The announcement came on Facebook:
Meanwhile, a post appeared on Beppe Grillo's blog commenting on the Raggi plan for Roma camps: “Stop. This story ends here. Now in Rome the music is changing. Closure of Roma camps, census of all illegal areas and tent cities. Anyone who claims no income and travels with luxury cars is out. Anyone who asks for money on the subway, perhaps with minors in tow, is out. In addition, vigilance in the metro against pickpockets will be increased. No one has ever approached the problem like this before. The service applied is widespread and covers the whole city. We are starting to close the first two of nine fields still present in Rome. Let's say it right away: it will take time. These are not operations that are done overnight”.
Furthermore, the Viminale reveals the astonishment at the turnaround of the mayor of Rome, in the face of the economic commitment made by the government to deal with the migrant emergency. In fact, between the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, 2 million and 340 thousand euros were paid into the coffers of the capital. This is the Gratitude Bonus of 500 euros per migrant for the Municipalities (2600 Municipalities out of 8000) that have opened up to welcome refugees. And even earlier, in the autumn of 2016, the government had also bestowed an extraordinary contribution of half a million euros on the Capitoline municipal administration.
According to various commentators, this turn to the right of the 5 Star Movement would be a move to recover ground after the last electoral defeat in the administrative elections. Giorgia Meloni, president of Fratelli d'Italia and Capitoline councilor, takes the side of Raggi: "He did well – she said – I would have done the same". Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, also essentially agrees, but on Facebook he uses more critical words:
