On March 5, Lega Nord and the populist Five Star movement formed a governing coalition – the first populist ruling government in Western Europe. Lega Nord member Matteo Salvini became the country's deputy Prime Minister.  

In May, Salvini and the head of the Five Star Movement Luigi di Maio revealed plans to build more detention centers in order to deport an estimated 500,000 illegal migrants. They also pushed for a renegotiation of the European Union's Dublin regulation - an agreement that states asylum seekers' cases have to be processed in the first EU country they set foot in. Salvini has called the European Union a "crime against humanity."

What is the Lega Nord?

The party is headquartered in the northern Italian city of Milan. In the past, the Lega has advocated for greater regional autonomy for Italy's northern regions. While it used to draw most of its support from citizens in Northern Italy on its secessionist platform - hence the "Nord" in its name - the party has embraced euroskepticism, Italian nationalism, and opposition to migration as ways to garner support from a wider audience in recent years. During the 2018 election, the party dropped the "Nord" part of their name from election flyers to just "Lega," in order to appeal to Italy's southern regions such as Sicily.   

'Italians first'

During the election campaign, Salvini said that he and his party would put "Italians first" and that he would begin cracking down on illegal immigration. On July 11, Salvini blocked the Aquarius rescue vessel carrying 629 refugees and migrants from docking at an Italian port. Doctors without Borders said that the boat was carrying 123 unaccompanied migrants and seven pregnant women. The ship was once again turned away by Malta before being allowed to dock in Valencia, Spain. Despite sharp criticism from European heads of governments, Salvini stood by his decision, saying "ships belonging to foreign organizations and flying foreign flags cannot dictate Italy's immigration policy".

Anti-immigrant rhetoric

In an interview with the British Spectator magazine in December 2017 Salvini announced his position on migration to Italy. "I'll send the navy to blockade Libya to stop them, and deport those who are not genunine refugees (that's nearly all) within a year of coming to power," he said. In the same interview, he said "I welcome women and children who've escaped from the bombs of Syria as sisters and brothers, but we can't take in all the misfits of the world."        

Salvini has made plans to count Italy's Roma community and to deport those who do not have Italian nationality according to AFP.  This census plan was called "racist" and "fascist" by opposition members in the Italian parliament. He has also claimed that Islam is incompatible with Italy's values and freedoms and that he does not want Italy to end up like Great Britain, "which has Islamic courts instead of British courts," according to the Daily Telegraph.

Most recently, Salvini has argued that Italy will not take back any migrants from Germany that had registered in Italy first. In Germany, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has advocated a "migration master plan" which would see migrants that come to Germany turned away.