and, anyway, you could always relocate to Italy
Actually no, you can't, unless you hold an EU passport OR you can get the Italian government to make an exception due to family etc. Even if you accomplish that you'd have to deal with the rampant nepotism here (in Italy).
Why do you yanks persist in thinking you can just *saunter into someone else's country at will? You might think you're exceptional but no one else does.
*(Unless you bomb the shit out of them first of course but that hasn't worked out too well for you lately either has it?)