Under the nick-name “White Christmas”, the 25th December the mayor of Coccaglio, a town of 7 thousand inhabitants on the North of Italy, will organize a chase for immigrants, wrote today the Italian daily La Republicca.

The town is ruled by a neo-fascist party Northern League. The author of the operation, Coccaglio’s councillor in charge of security, Claudio Abiendi, told La Republicca “For me, Christmas is not the holiday of hospitality, but instead that of the Christian tradition, of our identity”.

The clean-up operation will see police officers going to every home in the town to make sure its residents have their immigration documents in order, otherwise they will lose their residence and risk deportation.

The move also applies to those whose legal permit of stay expired over six months ago and cannot prove that they have begun the procedure to renew it.

La Repubblica reports that the nearby towns of Castelcovati and Castrezzatoare are also beginning to copy Coccaglio’s idea.