[Crawford]

For question #2, I would think Italy receives tons of immigrants for the same reason the Southwest U.S. receives tons of immigrants- location.

Most immigrants to Europe are coming via North Africa and the Middle East. Italy is basically the easiest "rich" country to reach for many, especially because some Italian islands are extremely close to Africa.

And Italy's economy, while not exactly robust, is not that bad. They are still one of the richest major countries on earth, and have excellent social benefits.