The Italian government is considering a “nuclear option” to clear out thousands of migrants, which involves issuing temporary visas that would allow them to leave the country and move to other European Union countries. More than 101,417 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean sea during 2017, with almost 85 percent arriving in Italy. The Italian government has threatened to close its ports for foreign ships if other EU countries don’t help out. Senior Italian officials told The Times Saturday that the government has discussed exploiting European Council Directive 2001/55, which was created after the war in former Yugoslavia to give temporary protection to displaced people. “If migrants continue to arrive and Italy decides to give them papers to cross borders and leave Italy it would be a nuclear…