COMMENTARY: With the president-elect's most recent and most effective appointment - that of no-nonsense Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be head of the Department of Homeland Security - we can finally hope that something intelligent will be done on immigration.

Oh, I'm not going to say it's America's "burgeoning immigration problem." I'm not going to write that we are at "point zero" for taking back our out-of- control borders to the south. I'm not going to insist it's way past time for us to act like a grown-up family who obeys the laws and rules in its own household and decides which folks to invite to dinner.

Janet Napolitano may be as familiar a face in Florence, Italy, as she is in Florence, Ariz.

The selection of "Janet, the Italian sheriff" - as the daily La Stampa put it - to become the nation's next Homeland Security secretary sparked interest and excitement in the country from which Napolitano's grandfather emigrated from in the early 1900s.

Italians are fascinated not only by Napolitano's cultural heritage but also by what they view as her innovative strategies as a border-state governor, hence the term "sheriff," said Maurizio Molinari, the Torino-based newspaper's U.S. correspondent.

"The general perception . . . is that she is in the first row facing illegal immigration," a hot-button issue here and there, Molinari said.

"Her decision to work more to prevent the illegal immigration from inside Arizona (is) a strategy that is very similar (to) the one Italy is trying to apply."

In a town that’s nearly 90 percent white, a Grass Valley City Council candidate still is making illegal immigration a campaign issue. Ed Yarborough this week has hung handmade fliers on doors with the warning “It could happen here.” The word “here” is underlined by hand in red ink.

"San Francisco's immigrant sanctuary policies played a "substantial" role in the slayings of a father and two of his sons by allowing city officials to shield the alleged killer from deportation, despite his violent history, according to a legal claim filed Friday on behalf of the victims' family.

The claim is likely to be followed by a wrongful death lawsuit in which the family of Tony Bologna and his sons could seek millions of dollars from the city.

Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, were shot to death on a street in the Excelsior district June 22. Edwin Ramos, 21, of El Sobrante, who authorities say is a member of a street gang, has been charged with three counts of murder...."

"The scene repeats itself every day on city streets: A driver gets stuck bumper-to-bumper, blocking the intersection and another car's ability to complete a left turn. San Francisco authorities say that was enough to prompt Edwin Ramos to unload an AK47 assault weapon on a man and his two sons, killing all three. The murders immediately sparked public outrage, which only intensified when authorities revealed that Ramos, 21, is an illegal immigrant who had managed to avoid deportation despite previous brushes with the law...."

Many analysts are skeptical that Oba ma can navigate the political minefield of illegal immigration in his first year, while confronting the plunging economy and two wars. Still, groups on both sides are commissioning polls to gauge Americans' appetite for the immigration issue and assembling teams to file legislation for their cause next year.

"We're going to be fighting like crazy to keep it off the floor" in Congress, said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, the nation's largest group favoring immigration controls. "Now is not the time to be talking about this."

“We’re going to have an incredibly bad White House, so we’re in for some tough defensive battles,” said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which favors reduced immigration. “We have to make sure we’ve got at least 41 senators so we can block any Obama or McCain amnesty.”

"We are going to have to mobilize, as grassroots people...against the establishment if we're going to save this country, because believe me, we are talking about saving the country," NumbersUSA's Roy Beck said.

Many analysts are skeptical that Oba ma can navigate the political minefield of illegal immigration in his first year, while confronting the plunging economy and two wars. Still, groups on both sides are commissioning polls to gauge Americans' appetite for the immigration issue and assembling teams to file legislation for their cause next year.

"We're going to be fighting like crazy to keep it off the floor" in Congress, said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, the nation's largest group favoring immigration controls. "Now is not the time to be talking about this."

“We’re going to have an incredibly bad White House, so we’re in for some tough defensive battles,” said Roy Beck, president of NumbersUSA, which favors reduced immigration. “We have to make sure we’ve got at least 41 senators so we can block any Obama or McCain amnesty.”

"We are going to have to mobilize, as grassroots people...against the establishment if we're going to save this country, because believe me, we are talking about saving the country," NumbersUSA's Roy Beck said.