Italy ruling tells millions with Italian roots they have lost the right to citizenship | CNN
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Italy’s Constitutional Court has signaled support for a controversial law restricting citizenship by descent, a move that could block millions of people abroad from claiming Italian nationality.

Since Italy became a country in 1861, there has been a surefire way to know who is and isn’t an Italian citizen: look at their parents.

The first page of the civil code, published in 1865 as the rulebook to Europe’s newest country, declared that a child born to an Italian citizen was an Italian citizen.

This founding tenet of the Bel Paese now looks set to change — ending diaspora dreams of returning to the mother country, and meaning that Italians who move abroad risk denying citizenship to their descendants.

On Thursday the Constitutional Court said it would rule in favor of the government and its controversial 2025 law that restricted citizenship for those born abroad. The law — issued last March via emergency decree — had been challenged by four judges, who questioned its constitutionality.

  • NeilNuggetstrong@lemmy.worldEnglish
    73·
    2 days ago

    Anyone care to explain? So with the citizenship law currently in place, you get Italian citizenship if any of your parents have it. But does that mean your kids will also get it since you have it? When does it stop? Seems like the nr of Italians abroad will balloon in a few generations if that’s the case. No wonder they want to change it

      • partofthevoice@lemmy.zipEnglish
        142·
        2 days ago

        Citizenship is a social contract that provides dues and benefits. If you dont live there, don’t do your dues, but remain entitled to your benefits, wouldn’t that just strain the resources available to citizens who actually are living there, doing their dues?

        • ranzispa@mander.xyzEnglish
          4·
          1 day ago

          The only real strain on the system is that they have to record where you are and send you official documents from time to time as well as providing a way to vote from abroad. In times of crisis they may organise emergency flights to get you out of danger.

          Besides that, an Italian citizen living abroad is not a large expense for the government.

          • rwrwefwef@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            41·
            1 day ago

            If they remigrate back to Italy, they’d be entitled to education and healthcare, which are the largest Italian expenditures, without contributing to the system.

            • ranzispa@mander.xyzEnglish
              2·
              23 hours ago

              That is true if they go to Italy after retirement age or very sick. Otherwise they’ll be working in Italy as well and be paying taxes in the country.

      • NeilNuggetstrong@lemmy.worldEnglish
        51·
        1 day ago

        In Norway we have 5.5 million citizens. There are roughly 6 million American citizens of Norwegian descendants. If we had the same system that would put an unbelievable strain on our country