Italy's citizenship ruling could impact thousands of Italian-Americans in Pa. and N.J. The Italian Constitutional Court’s recent decision to end the country’s long-standing policy of unlimited generational citizenship has sparked widespread concern among Italian-Americans in Philadelphia and New Jersey. The ruling, which took effect immediately, restricts citizenship to children and grandchildren of Italian citizens, requiring that their ancestors held Italian citizenship at the time of their birth. This change effectively eliminates dual citizenship for many, leaving hundreds of thousands of descendants of Italian immigrants in the U.S. scrambling to navigate a new legal landscape. For individuals like Jillian Emory of Fairmount, the news was a crushing blow. Emory, who spent years connecting with her Italian heritage through language study, travel, and genealogical research, had hoped to claim citizenship. The ruling, however, dashed her dreams, as it now requires applicants to live in Italy for two years—a goal she deemed unattainable. “I genuinely want to be a part of that culture,” she said, only to face frustration over the new restrictions. The decision has also raised alarms in Philadelphia and New Jersey, home to some of the largest Italian-American communities in the U.S. The American-Italian Society of Philadelphia, a nonprofit promoting Italian culture, has already hosted two webinars to explain the changes. Philadelphia alone has the highest concentration of Italian-Americans among the 10 largest U.S. cities, with over 760,000 people of Italian descent in the metro area. Towns like Hammonton, N.J., and Ocean City, N.J., also boast significant Italian-American populations, with at least 20% of residents in several communities.#italian_constitutional_court #tajani_decree #jillian_emory #american_italian_society_of_philadelphia #nicole_mena
Italy ruling tells millions with Italian roots they have lost the right to citizenship The Italian Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of a controversial 2025 law that restricts citizenship rights for descendants of Italians born abroad, marking a significant shift in the country’s long-standing tradition of citizenship by descent. The decision, announced on March 14, 2026, means that individuals with Italian ancestry who were born outside Italy will no longer automatically qualify for citizenship, potentially severing ties between millions of diaspora descendants and their ancestral homeland. Since Italy’s unification in 1861, citizenship has been determined by parental lineage, a principle known as ius sanguinis. The country’s civil code, published in 1865, established that a child born to an Italian citizen would inherit citizenship, a rule that has governed the nation’s identity for over a century. However, the new law, introduced via emergency decree in March 2025, now requires individuals to prove direct descent from an Italian parent or grandparent born in Italy. It also eliminates dual citizenship for diaspora descendants, as the parent or grandparent must have held sole Italian citizenship at the time of the descendant’s birth or death. The ruling has sparked widespread concern among Italian expatriates, many of whom have lived abroad for generations while maintaining their cultural and legal ties to Italy. Under the previous system, Italians who moved abroad could pass citizenship to their children as long as they did not renounce it, often by acquiring another nationality. This practice allowed millions of Italians to retain their citizenship despite living and working overseas, preserving both their heritage and their connection to the homeland.#italy #italian_constitutional_court #italian_citizenship_reform #bologna_university #marco_mellone
