Cittadini mancati: gli effetti delle politiche migratorie e di accoglienza sull’idea di cittadinanza democratica

The study on the receiving system in Brescia represents an interesting case study, useful to understand how the general mandate of receiving, protect and integrate the extra-Ue citizens has been implemented at a local level. This chapter showcases the most crucial steps of the migratory and receiving law and policy in Italy during the 1998-2021 period. It argues that the lack of an organic migratory policy nurtures the negative social perception of migrant people, especially of those who cross the Italian borders illegally and then are seen as a burden for the protection and care national system. As a matter of fact, this makes them as ‘missing citizens’. But three points, raised by the enquiry carried out in Brescia, can lead to a positive perspective; it seems possible to apply the ‘citizenship values’ also to refugees and asylum seekers (often suspended due to their temporary status) by: cultivating a fair information about them; taking care of the unavoidable conflict between expectations and real chances for them; and managing the relationships with them by exerting their agency.