Perhaps more than any other European nation, Italy has been dealing with the flood of African and Middle Eastern immigrants for years now. Entire regions of once beautiful Italian cities have become de facto slums and tensions are rising between the invaders and the Italians. Now, it seems the Italian government may finally, finally be moved to act.

Paolo Gentiloni will take a much harder stance on the problem than his party colleague Matteo Renzi, under whose leadership hundreds of thousands of migrants entered the EU through Italy.

A two-page directive has reportedly been sent out to police stations across Italy ordering officers to increase efforts to deport economic migrants.

The document was drafted by chief of police Franco Gabrielli and part-published in Italian newspaper Courier della Sera.

Indicating fear of terror in Europe, the notice says the change is important to battle “a growing migratory pressure and an international context marked by instability and threats”.

Italy will open 16 detention centres for migrants under new rules where those detained will stay until deportation can be arranged.

['Time to act' Italy calls for mass migrant deportations as half a million refugees arrive, by Zoie O'Brien, Express, January 2, 2017]

Really, the time to act was years ago. But better late than never.

If we actually see deportations, this will be an important precedent for Americans to follow. It is likely we will see resistance and attacks on law enforcement by invaders and the far-left traitors within urging on the death of Europe. What happens in Italy may give a taste of what is in store if the rule of law is ever reestablished in our own country.

Of course, we here at VDARE.com predicted back in 2011 that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's Libyan intervention would trigger a disaster for Europe. It's hard to decide what is more terrifying, whether European leaders didn't see this coming or whether they did.