Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday vowed to continue cracking down on illegal migration after a Rome court blocked the deportation of an 23-time convicted Algerian man and ordered the Italian government to compensate him for trying to deport him.

The Italian newspaper La Stampa explained that last week, a court in Rome ruled in favor of Redouane Laaleg, a 56 year-old Algerian illegal migrant that the Italian government sought to deport on grounds that he represents a danger to Italian society.

The court not only blocked the man’s deportation proceedings, but ordered the Italian Interior Ministry to compensate him with 700 euro for attempting to enforce his deportation.

Laaleg reportedly entered Italy in 1995 and has never held a residence permit. Since 2001, he has been repeatedly reported to judicial authorities for non-compliance with immigration laws, and received 23 different convictions between 1999 and 2023  for a litany of crimes committed against individuals, properties, and the Italian public administration mainly in the region of Liguria — including kicking and punching a woman.

Two different expulsion orders against the man were issued by prefects from the cities of Cuneo and Alessandria. Sources told La Stampa that the man has 13 different aliases, often gave false details during police checks, and had been detained at least 11 times.

He was finally taken into custody at a detention center in Gradisca d’Isonzo on February 23, 2025, and appealed his deportation to a detention center in Albania for his repatriation under grounds that his deportation had been caried out in a “degrading manner that violated his fundamental rights, with his wrists tied with restraining straps.”

Prime Minister Meloni addressed the situation in a video published on social media on Tuesday night (local time). Meloni stressed, “We will continue to defend security and legality, without backing down.”

“Some judges have even ruled that not only will he not be deported, but that the Ministry of the Interior will have to compensate him with 700 euro for attempting to enforce a deportation order,” Meloni said.

“Now, I think it is legitimate to ask how we can seriously combat illegal immigration if those who repeatedly break the law remain on our territory and the state is even sanctioned for trying to enforce the rules,” she continued.

Meloni said that nevertheless, her government will continue to strengthen repatriation in order to make the tools for combating illegal immigration more effective and to “guarantee security and legality for citizens, including through the initiatives that Italy is promoting in Europe for faster procedures and effective repatriation.”

The leader stressed that Italians voted for the center-right to reestablish clear rules and enforce them “despite the fact that a politicized part of the judiciary continues to obstruct any action aimed at combating mass illegal immigration,”

“Respecting Italian laws is essential, and those who do not intend to do so are not welcome in Italy,” she concluded.