Two US families are taking their case to Italy's supreme court, hoping to overturn a controversial citizenship law that has blocked thousands of descendants of Italian emigrants from claiming a passport. The law, enacted by Giorgia Meloni's far-right government last May, restricts eligibility to those with a parent or grandparent who was an Italian citizen at birth and did not acquire dual nationality.
Among those affected is Sabrina Crawford, a US-born woman from the San Francisco Bay Area, who had been pursuing Italian citizenship through her great-grandfather for years. She was awaiting a final document proving he had not become a US citizen when the new rules were announced. Crawford described the news as 'horrible' and said it 'broke my heart'.
The legislation broke with Italy's longstanding tradition of welcoming descendants of its diaspora, which includes millions in the US, Brazil and Argentina. The government argued it was necessary to clamp down on tenuous claims and to clear backlogs at consulates. Critics, however, say it unfairly targets legitimate applicants and violates the principle of 'ius sanguinis' (right of blood).
Lawyer Marco Mellone, representing the two families, argues the law should not apply retroactively. 'This is a crucial point,' he said. 'It touches on a citizenship right at the time of birth and so it should not be applied retroactively.' A supreme court panel is expected to rule in the coming weeks on whether the law applies only to those born after its enactment.
The case highlights broader tensions over citizenship in Italy. The country also denies birthright citizenship to children of immigrants born on Italian soil, a policy that has faced increasing criticism. With Italy's population projected to fall from 59 million to 44 million by the end of the century, Mellone warned: 'They say no to children born in Italy to immigrants and no to those born to Italian emigrants. Who will be the Italian citizens of the future?'
