As our nation continues to celebrate our 250th anniversary, I have been giving a lot of thought about what citizenship means. What a privilege it is to be an American and how we should never take that privilege for granted.

The Jure Sanguinis Conundrum

Last year the Italian government made changes to their jure sanguinis laws in an effort to curtail the open-ended application process, and huge backlog, to a system with far more rigid requirements and limitations. Needless to say, this upset and frustrated countless Americans of Italian descent who were in the process of collecting their documents for citizenship consideration.

I was in the very early stages of collecting documents. At first, I was upset. I felt like it was another rejection from our Motherland. Our ancestors left home when they were unable to squeak out a life and provide for their families. When they arrived in America, they were shunned, thought to be hot-headed, stupid – and the one we have never been able to conquer – believed we were all in the Mafia. However, our ancestors proved their worth to their new homeland. They learned English, became citizens, and even changed their names to sound more “American.”

Now, we had an opportunity to reclaim what our ancestors lost – and we lost it again. Like I said, I was upset. I was frustrated. Just like everyone else in the same position. But the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense.

Being “Italian”

Citizenship means far more than just a certificate or passport. It means more than reclaiming what our ancestors had to give up to survive. And as much as many of us know about our regional and Italian histories, that isn’t enough.

It means being a productive member of a society. It means paying taxes. If Italy becomes entangled in a diplomatic situation, it could mean possible enlistment in the military. Citizenship isn’t a right. It is something you earn. And it is a responsibility.

As much as many of us want to reclaim our full heritage, which includes their citizenship, but it isn’t up to us. It is up to Italy – or any nation – to decide who should be allowed to gain citizenship. In the end, however, Italy might not have the final say at all.

The EU Court of Justice

The Italian Constitutional Court is now asking the European Union’s Court of Justice to rule on whether the country’s citizenship-by-descent restrictions violate EU law.

Initially, Italy’s Constitutional Court upheld the strict law, known as L74/2025, leaving applicants devastated as hundreds of lawsuits challenging the ban were dismissed. However, after review, the court did a 180. It has now suspended the latest challenges to the law from regional Italian judges and officially referred the case to the European Court of Justice to determine if Italy broke European legal rules.

Now, I am the first to admit I do not understand how the European Union’s laws work, but in my head, I am equating it to a state dealing with the federal court to determine jurisdiction. More often than not, it is very complicated and those involved in the case are rarely happy with the outcome.

Even if the EU Court of Justice overturns the 2025 legislation, I do not know if I will pick up where I left off with my plan to reclaim citizenship on behalf of my ancestors. I will, however, continue to search for more information and documents of those who came before me. In the end, I do not need an Italian passport or citizenship to know where I come from. I just need to remember and honor all my ancestors did for the generations they knew they would never meet. They sacrificed for all of us. And a piece of paper doesn’t change that.