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Not long ago, on a train, I met an American who had lived in Italy for sixteen years. One of the first things he told me, in an annoyed tone, was that he no longer felt comfortable in Italy and that he was seriously considering returning to the U.S. I responded: “Perhaps you're sick of all the Italian corruption, with our perennial economic crisis, the inefficiency of our public administration, mafias infiltrated everywhere …” No, the American replied: “Italy is becoming full of Indians, Arabs, Chinese. This is not the Italy of before.” I laughed, because he was an immigrant to Italy himself. Yet, I had the philosophical naiveté to tell him: “And do you want to go back to America, which hosts far more immigrants than Italy? In fact, the United States is a nation made up entirely of immigrants.” The annoyed American was not at all impressed by my remark: “Immigration is okay for America, but only Italians should live in Italy!”
(Note: I find this idea about Italians as a homogeneous and pure entity always quite weird. Since the Middle Ages, Ostrogoths, Longobards, Byzantines, Normans, the Arabs in Sicily, Spaniards, Catalans, French, and Austrians have “migrated” to our country. These invasions are one of the reasons for the colorful variety of the Italian regions.)
I have had the opportunity to meet others who are, so to speak, complementary to this Yankee who had immigrated to Italy but who detested immigrants. I am referring to many Italians who had emigrated to the U.S. in their youth, fought against the surly U.S. Immigration Office, and eventually succeeded in obtaining American citizenship by marrying an American, usually of Italian origins. Nearly all of these well-off, now elderly people who live satisfactorily in the States repeat