The staff at a hospital in Turin told a group of Senegalese immigrants they did not have the expertise to care for blacks, dismissing them with “What can we do for you here?” In Spain, the baby of Moroccan immigrants died in the emergency waiting room where he had been left unattended in a critical condition. These dramatic stories underscore a more routine reality of immigrant exclusion. The commissioner responsible for annual reports on immigrant integration in Italy says the picture is “somewhat ‘patchy,’ with a mixture of light and dark areas.” Increasing family unification rates, more immigrant children in schools, and growing union membership are among the “light areas” she mentions. Among the “dark patches” are the high percentage of immigrants who are illegal; the many legal immigrants who work in the underground economy; disproportionate school failure rates; extensive homelessness and substandard housing; and high incarceration rates, with immigrants representing 25 percent of the Italian prison population overall – and 50 percent of detained minors. Access to the national health system by immigrants is “extremely limited,” and immigrants constitute up to 90 percent of those who use soup kitchens.

A similar picture emerges in Spain. In a national study sponsored by IMSERSO, the 1,600 immigrants who were interviewed reported major difficulties finding housing, getting a fair wage, and having their skills appreciated. In Madrid, immigrants comprise 64 percent of the homeless, and NGOs regularly denounce landlords for refusing to rent to immigrants.