In 2025, Sabrina Crawford, a resident of the San Francisco Bay area born in the United States, was nearing the end of her extended effort to secure Italian citizenship. This included a key visit to a village in Calabria for ancestry research, as she aimed to establish a new life in Italy. However, her aspirations were halted by a new law introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing administration, which restricted citizenship claims based on remote heritage.
Since May of the previous year, eligibility has been limited to individuals whose parent or grandparent held Italian citizenship at birth without acquiring another nationality. Crawford was preparing to submit her application, awaiting one final document confirming her great-grandfather’s status, when the unexpected policy shift occurred.
‘It felt like everything fell apart,’ she recalled. ‘This devastating update disrupted all my arrangements, aspirations, and objectives. It was heartbreaking.’
Crawford now relies on a positive ruling from Italy’s supreme court in a case brought by two American families. They contend the law should only affect those born after its implementation. A decision from the court is anticipated soon.
The policy departs from Italy’s historical practice of granting citizenship to descendants of its extensive worldwide diaspora. It seeks to prevent claims with weak ties to the nation, curb the acquisition of Italian passports, and alleviate administrative burdens on local offices and consulates overwhelmed by applications.
‘Conferring citizenship is a significant issue and must be limited to those with authentic ties to our country,’ Meloni stated following parliamentary approval.
The change appears linked to disputes, such as 2024 claims that an Italian consulate in Venezuela improperly issued citizenship to five Hezbollah affiliates, the Iran-supported Lebanese group. Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani referenced offers of discounted citizenship in Brazil as further justification.
Yet, the reform has impacted numerous valid applications, particularly from the United States, Brazil, and Argentina—destinations for millions of Italian migrants fleeing hardship in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In March, Italy’s constitutional court upheld the law’s validity, but the supreme court can define its application, according to Marco Mellone, the attorney for the American families. Mellone asserts the rule should not apply backward and that his clients are exercising rights under ius sanguinis, the principle allowing citizenship through bloodlines traceable to Italy’s unification in 1861.
‘This is a vital aspect, and it’s why we view the law as fundamentally unconstitutional and unjust,’ Mellone explained. ‘It affects a birthright, so retroactive enforcement is inappropriate.’
Citizenship remains a contentious issue in Italy. Despite increasing births to immigrant parents, automatic citizenship by birth is not granted. A referendum to relax these standards failed last year due to insufficient participation.
Referencing Eurostat projections that Italy’s population could drop to 44 million by century’s end from about 59 million now, Mellone noted that barriers to citizenship exacerbate the ‘demographic winter’ Meloni has highlighted.
‘They reject citizenship for children of immigrants born here and for descendants of Italian emigrants abroad,’ he said. ‘The population decline is severe. Who will form the Italian populace moving forward?’
Crawford, aged 50, who previously resided and worked in Italy on short-term visas, began her process in 2018. She could not pursue citizenship via her mother’s lineage due to a pre-1948 rule barring women from passing citizenship to offspring. Instead, she documented an uninterrupted paternal line to her great-grandfather from Verbicaro in Calabria.
This required a journey to the village, where a local priest and historian assisted in archival searches to verify her ancestor’s identity and secure his birth record. Numerous administrative challenges followed, but she continued.
Should the supreme court rule favorably, Crawford can advance her claim through a court in Catanzaro, Calabria. ‘I trust there’s still an opportunity for those like me who have dedicated considerable effort and resources,’ she said.
