The Court of Justice of the European Union, the top judicial institution of the EU, based in Luxembourg, could wipe out the controversial citizenship law, forcing the Italian government to rewrite and pass new legislation.

U-turn, about-face, backpedal — all of the above.

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.

This decision by the constitutional court completely undermines its own ruling, which upheld Italy’s 2025 law imposing harsh restrictions on qualifying for Italian citizenship.

Imposed without warning in March 2025, the restrictions limit eligibility only to those with an Italian parent or grandparent — a move that sent shockwaves through the Italian diaspora, as millions were suddenly cut off from pursuing citizenship to Italy and thousands were severed mid-application.

EU case law, over the past three decades, has consistently held that citizenship can’t be stripped away abruptly, disproportionately, or without warning.

“It’s a 180-degree change of direction,” Marco Mellone, one of four attorneys fighting the law head-on, told CNN. “It’s a confession that they made a mistake … they had the chance to refer it three months ago and didn’t, it’s clear they changed their opinion.”

The challenge hinges on whether claimants were born Italians with unrecognized citizenship, as long-established Italian case law had ruled.

If the ECJ rules against the citizenship restrictions, they will be completely wiped out, leaving the Italian government to write new legislation that complies with EU rules.

The final ruling could take months, or more than a year, to come down.

The ‘Minor Issue’ Is No More 

The Corte Suprema di Cassazione (Italy’s Supreme Court) in late July struck down the “minor issue,” thanks in part to advocacy that was led by Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA).

In 2024, Italy’s Ministry of the Interior introduced a controversial rule known as the “minor issue.”

Under the rule, if an Italian citizen had a child abroad, and then that parent naturalized in another country — becoming, say, a U.S. citizen — while the child was still a minor, the child’s tie to Italian citizenship was considered broken. That meant not just the child, but all of their descendants, would lose any claim to citizenship through that parent.

The sudden implementation of the issue cut off those whose applications for Italian citizenship were already in progress, but thanks to today’s ruling, thousands of dual citizenship applications are revived.

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Russo opened by praising NIABA for spotlighting the contributions of Italian American judges and lawyers and thanked the association for its continued support of COPOMIAO. That support recently deepened, with two NIABA affiliates joining the coalition as it continues to unify and amplify Italian American voices nationwide.

It didn’t take long for that unity to show results. In New York City, when Mayor Mamdani’s administration failed to include Manhattan’s Little Italy on the city’s official tourist map of ethnic enclaves, Italian Americans pushed back, together. The city reversed course and Mr. Mamdani pledged to add Little Italy to the list.

The momentum isn’t just local, it’s legal. Russo credited COPOMIAO National Counsel George Bochetto with a string of wins preserving Columbus Day and Columbus statues through sustained litigation, much of it pro bono work.

The board applauded the mention of a newly filed lawsuit to force the City of Columbus, Ohio, to return its Columbus statue to its place of honor in front of City Hall. Several board members said that NIABA, at the appropriate time, would recommend filing an amicus curiae brief in support of the federal suit.

“When this community moves as one, we affect change,” said Russo, who also leads the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA), a member organization of COPOMIAO. “Whether before a judge or in the court of public opinion, we advance cogent arguments that lead to potent advocacy.”

COPOMIAO’s Columbus campaign has reached the highest levels of government with the placement of the navigator’s statue on the White House campus in Washington, D.C. this past spring.

It’s generational, too. Russo pointed to the Italian American Future Leaders (IAFL) program as a clear sign this collective is built to last. He urged board members to send the younger attorneys in their networks to IAFL’s annual national convention held in South Florida in January. Their participation, he said, is how the momentum gets carried forward.

And once again, it’s global. This September, a COPOMIAO delegation will travel to Rome to meet with Italy’s top political leaders — part of a push to deepen the cultural bond between Italian Americans and their ancestral homeland. Russo announced the delegation had also secured an audience with Pope Leo XIV later this summer in Vatican City.

Related story: Italian American Leaders Meet With Pope Francis and Government Officials to Reaffirm Our Community’s Religious and Cultural Ties to Italy

Each of these threads is its own story. Together, they’re something bigger: proof that Italian American organizations are moving in a shared direction COPOMIAO has spent years charting — a vision that has kept Russo in steady demand nationwide, addressing 17 major organizations in the past three years alone.

These aren’t isolated wins. They’re the product of collaboration across 77 member organizations.

In 1930, immigrant families banded together to create the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA), now one of the most prominent and financially successful Italian American organizations in the nation. In the last decade, we built a 730,000-strong social media community, grew our not-for-profit fraternal association, ISDA Financial Life, to nearly a half billion dollars in member assets, co-founded the Russo Brothers Italian American Filmmaker Forum (RBIAFF), and launched the fastest-growing Italian American publication (La Nostra Voce). 

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani said last month that he would revise a city map of New York’s immigrant neighborhoods after facing days of criticism over an omission that incensed the Italian American community at large.

The map, published by the city, highlighted 30 neighborhoods across the five boroughs, including three separate Chinatowns as well as Little Bangladesh, Little Pakistan, Little Poland and Little Yemen. It did not include Little Italy, or any distinctly Irish or Jewish enclaves.

Under pressure, Mr. Mamdani said Little Italy and other long-recognized immigrant communities would be added to the list.

The map’s release, which coincided with an influx of international visitors to the city for World Cup matches, prompted swift criticism from Italian American organizations, as it was the latest sign of our community being edged out of NYC’s civic life.

The mayor sought to place the blame on his predecessor, Eric Adams.

“When we inherited the list, we added a few additional neighborhoods,” Mr. Mamdani said. “It’s clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic communities that call our city home. We are going to be making additional changes in the future to reflect that.”

A spokesperson for Mr. Adams disputed that characterization.

A Well-Organized Response

For much of the past century, Italian American advocacy groups were a fractured lot, rarely uniting behind a common cause. That began to change 12 years ago, when Hon. Basil M. Russo was elected to lead the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA), and later, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO), an umbrella group representing 77 groups nationwide.

Under Mr. Russo, longstanding rivalries and internal divisions gave way to a more coordinated response to what members viewed as recurring attacks, among them efforts to rename or remove Columbus Day observances and monuments, and what many in the community describe as a persistent marginalization in civic and cultural discourse.

Mr. Russo also built one of the largest Italian American social media networks in the country, a platform he has used to mobilize hundreds of thousands of Italian Americans in defense of the community’s culture, history and traditions.

Mr. Mamdani is only the latest official to encounter that mobilized response.

Much as he did during his own mayoral campaign, Italian American advocates increasingly rely on social media and nonprofit organizing to press their case, an approach that groups like the ISDA and COPOMIAO have refined into an advocacy operation that continues to amplify itself year after year.

“In our community, respect is very much a two-way street,” Mr. Russo said. “Too often, elected officials have marginalized our history and culture when it’s politically convenient. We’re pleased that Mr. Mamdani is seeking to reverse this blunder, and we believe he and politicians at large now understand that Italian Americans are strongly united in pursuing every avenue available to us to defend and uphold our heritage.”

Read on: Italian American Leaders Turn the Tide in Fight for Columbus

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The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) has delivered decisive wins for the pro-Columbus movement over the past two years.

Its largest victory arrived this past spring, when Hon. Basil Russo, president of Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) and COPOMIAO, teamed up with U.S. Congressman Mike Rulli and actor and Saturday Night Live alum Joe Piscopo — a longtime friend of President Donald Trump — to install a replica of Baltimore’s toppled Columbus statue in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just steps from the White House. The landmark achievement made headlines across the nation and world.

COPOMIAO National Counsel George Bochetto — who, through years of litigation and appeals, blocked the removal of Pittsburgh’s and Philadelphia’s Columbus statues and restored Columbus Day in Philadelphia — reports that COPOMIAO’s federal lawsuit to restore Columbus, Ohio’s namesake statue is showing significant progress.

“Everything I do is intended to honor the memory of my parents and grandparents, who are no longer with me,” said Russo. “Columbus is a testament to our families and ancestors, many of whom ascended from poverty to prominence, in part by using the intrepid navigator as a symbol to fuel assimilation.”

COPOMIAO is also extending its hand across the aisle to Native American and Indigenous Peoples groups through virtual “Solidarity Sessions,” run by Italian American One Voice Coalition (IAOVC) President Andre DiMino and the Native American Guardians Association (NAGA).

Extensive surveying by the two organizations found that only about 10% of Native and Indigenous populations oppose Columbus Day.

Thomas Damigella, who helped launch the Solidarity Sessions, is now leading the creation of a new North End Historical Society museum just steps from North Square in Boston, where Columbus’ history will be a centerpiece. The museum is set to open in the coming weeks.

About COPOMIAO

The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO), founded in New York City, is a national coalition of 77 cultural, educational, fraternal, and anti-defamation groups. Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) is a proud member of COPOMIAO. ISDA National Vice President Danielle Salasavage also co-leads the Centro Culturale Italiano di Buffalo, which was admitted into COPOMIAO at its June 2026 Annual Meeting.

Make a Pledge and join Italian Sons and Daughters of America today. 

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For generations, Italian citizenship by descent (“jure sanguinis” or “right of blood”) was widely understood as a birthright, extending across multiple generations of the diaspora and dating back to Italy’s formation in 1861. For millions of Italian Americans, that principle formed the basis of a deeply personal connection to their ancestral homeland.

This article first appeared in the May 2026 edition of La Nostra Voce, ISDA’s monthly newspaper that chronicles Italian and Italian American news, history, culture and recipes. Subscribe today!

However, the overhaul of this longstanding legal principle is the result of a series of developments that have unfolded over the past two years.

In late 2024, Italy’s Ministry of the Interior introduced a controversial administrative interpretation often referred to as the “minor issue.” Under this view, if the parent of an Italian child born abroad naturalized while the child was a minor, with them becoming, for example, U.S. citizens, then that act would sever the line of descent. The sudden implementation of the issue cut off those whose applications for Italian citizenship were already in progress. The court is now weighing the legality of the introduction of the minor issue through a handful of cases, two of which include Italian American families, according to Newsweek.

A second, more sweeping change followed on March 28, 2025, when Italy enacted reforms to citizenship law commonly known as the Tajani Decree, named after Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani. The measure narrowed eligibility by limiting recognition to those with an Italian parent or grandparent, while cutting off many claims through more distant ancestors that had long been accepted.

Taken together, these developments marked a significant departure from a system that had historically treated citizenship as something inherited, rather than constrained by generational limits or shifting legislative policies.

Now, courts are weighing not only whether these new limits are lawful, but whether they can be applied to individuals whose claims were previously considered valid, including citizenship applications that were already in process, according to the Associated Press.

In the coming months, Italy’s highest court for civil matters, the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (Italy’s Supreme Court), will hear challenges over the minor issue. These applicants will argue that citizenship by descent is not something granted upon application, but something possessed at birth and merely recognized through a legal process. From that perspective, they contend, the state cannot strip individuals of a status they previously held, and that those affected should only include people born after the new restrictions took effect last year.

The government, by contrast, maintains that it has the authority to define and limit the recognition of citizenship claims, particularly in response to administrative strain and evolving national priorities.

On June 9, the Italian Constitutional Court is scheduled to hear a significant case addressing the broader validity of the Tajani Decree and its introduction of generational limits on jure sanguinis citizenship.

If the courts determine that the new restrictions cannot be applied retroactively, the decision could preserve eligibility not only for pending applicants, but for hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people across the Italian diaspora who would have qualified under prior interpretations (even if they had not yet begun the citizenship application process).

Conversely, if the court sides with the government’s interpretation, the new limits will likely stand as a firm boundary, closing the door on dual citizenship for many Italian Americans.

More Than a Legal Question

“For Italian Americans, the issue extends beyond legal technicalities. Applicants often spend years assembling documentation, tracing lineage through generations and navigating a complex bureaucratic process. For many, recognition of citizenship represents not only a legal status, but a reaffirmation of identity: a tangible link to family history, culture and tradition,” said ISDA National President Basil M. Russo, who is working with U.S. Congressmen Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Mike Rulli (R-OH), from the Italian American Congressional Delegation, and meeting with leaders of the Italian government, to petition for a rollback of the restrictions.

Either way, the outcome will carry significant consequences, not only for those currently seeking recognition, but for how Italian citizenship itself is understood in the 21st century.

For the Italian American community, the moment is pivotal.

What has long been viewed as an inheritance, passed from one generation to the next, now stands at the crossroads of law and policy; its future to be decided in the courts over the next several months, or perhaps even sooner.

In 1930, immigrant families banded together to create the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA), now one of the most prominent and financially successful Italian American organizations in the nation. In the last decade, we built a 730,000-strong social media community, grew our not-for-profit fraternal association, ISDA Financial Life, to nearly a half billion dollars in member assets, co-founded the Russo Brothers Italian American Filmmaker Forum (RBIAFF), and launched the fastest-growing Italian American publication (La Nostra Voce). 

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The 28-year-old man from Paramount, Calif., was charged with grand theft after he gained about $34,000 in fraudulent transactions, the Irvine Police Department said on social media.

Target reported at least 70 thefts across the country that were tied to the scheme, the police said.

While officers made light of the crook’s pasta-and-switch method, calling it a “pasta-tively terrible plan,” his crimes were just the latest in a trend of Lego thefts.

Thieves have targeted Lego products because of their high resale value.

Officials have said that the toys are targeted because the pieces and kits are small, untraceable and in high demand.

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EOIR Director Daren K. Margolin delivered remarks, and Chief Immigration Judge Teresa L. Riley administered the oath during a ceremony held at the Department of Justice’s Great Hall in Washington, D.C. on April 8.

Hurst will begin hearing Cleveland Immigration Court cases this month.

Hurst earned a Bachelor of Arts from Xavier University in 2013 and a Juris Doctor from Cleveland State University College of Law in 2016.

Hurst served with the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court in Cleveland from April 2019 to March 2026, including as a magistrate from May 2021 to March 2026 and as a staff attorney from April 2019 to February 2023. From October 2020 to February 2023, he also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Adams County Prosecutor’s Office in West Union, Ohio. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office from October 2017 to March 2019.

Earlier in his career, Hurst served with the Geauga County Probate and Juvenile Court in Chardon, Ohio, first as a law clerk and later as a staff attorney from May 2014 to October 2017. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar.

Hurst and his wife, Nina, have two sons, and the family belongs to ISDA’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Lodge, located in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood.

Maria Hurst, secretary of OLMC Lodge, and Jonathan Barry Hurst, OLMC lodge member and one-time sergeant-at-arms, are the proud parents of Anthony Hurst.

The couple remains active in under-40 Italian American initiatives at both the local and national level, including their support of ISDA’s Inizio Lodge in Cleveland’s Little Italy and their attendance at the fourth annual Italian American Future Leaders (IAFL) Convention this past January in South Florida.

Make a pledge and become a member of Italian Sons and Daughters of America today.

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Related story: Baltimore’s Toppled Columbus Statue Revived on White House Grounds

The 28-page suit was filed by attorney George Bochetto on behalf of several plaintiffs, including the Friends of Christopher Columbus Foundation (FOCCF) — a Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit — and the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO), a nationwide Italian American advocacy coalition.

The lawsuit argues the statue’s removal was unlawful, discriminatory and in breach of binding agreements — all carried out without proper authority, due process or required historic protections.

“Six years ago, in a rushed and inconsistent response to unrest, city leaders removed the Columbus statue but not the name of the city itself,” said COPOMIAO President Basil Russo, who also leads the Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA). “Columbus Day emerged in the aftermath of the 1891 New Orleans lynching, when 11 Italian immigrants were killed by a mob of thousands, an event that prompted a national effort to promote the acceptance of Italian Americans. That legacy continues to shape the meaning and importance of these monuments today.”

Read about the historical origins of Columbus Day here.

Cast by renowned Italian sculptor Edoardo Alfieri in Genoa, Italy, the 20-foot bronze statue was unveiled in 1955 before 100,000 people. Its dedication marked the beginning of a formal sister-city relationship between Genoa and Columbus, Ohio, rooted in cultural and commercial exchange.

COPOMIAO’s Pro-Columbus Legal Momentum

COPOMIAO won back-to-back unanimous rulings in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, blocking the removal of Pittsburgh’s Columbus statue in 2024 and restoring Columbus Day as a citywide holiday in Philadelphia in 2025.

As part of its ongoing bipartisan advocacy efforts, COPOMIAO worked with the Trump Administration this past March to install Baltimore’s toppled Columbus statue on White House grounds — a collaboration that made international headlines.

“Public monuments cannot be removed at the unilateral discretion of elected officials, without process, authority or regard for binding agreements. Courts exist to check that kind of overreach,” said Bochetto.

ABOUT COPOMIAO

The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO), founded in NYC, is a national coalition of 74 cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation groups. Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) is a proud member of COPOMIAO.

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Building momentum on the international stage, ISDA President Basil Russo met in February with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani and Ambassador Marco Peronaci in Washington, D.C., marking new connections between Italian and Italian American leadership.

The meeting served as an initial step toward identifying areas of mutual interest and exploring opportunities for future collaboration centered on shared cultural and community priorities.

Tajani, who has served under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni since 2022, is among Italy’s most influential leaders.

Peronaci recently succeeded Ambassador Mariangela Zappia, who had collaborated with Russo to convene cultural leaders and dignitaries in Washington in late 2021, advancing initiatives that promoted Italian education, language, and traditions.

With planning discussions already underway between Tajani and Russo, further developments are anticipated as the dialogue continues to take shape in the months ahead.

More updates and details to follow.

Make a pledge and become a member of Italian Sons and Daughters of America today.

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Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2026) — Unveiled in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, destroyed in 2020 during civil unrest and revived by COPOMIAO and President Donald Trump, the Baltimore Columbus statue now stands on the White House grounds in celebration of Italian American history and culture.

The installation, spearheaded by COPOMIAO President Basil M. Russo in coordination with the Italian American Organizations United, which commissioned both the original statue and its replica, was months in the making and part of the White House’s “America250” undertaking.

Read President Trump’s letter to Russo here.

“Columbus statues have long stood as symbols of pride and cultural identity for more than 18 million Americans of Italian descent,” said Russo, who also serves as national president of Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA). “For over a century, Columbus’s legacy helped Italian immigrants navigate prejudice and hardship, serving as a source of unity and belonging as they built new lives in this country. Columbus Day itself emerged in the aftermath of the 1891 New Orleans lynching, when 11 Italian immigrants were killed by a mob of thousands, an event that prompted a national effort to promote the acceptance and assimilation of Italian Americans. This history remains central to why these monuments matter.”

Related story: Italian American Groups File Federal Lawsuit Against Ohio’s Capital, Seeking Reinstallation of Columbus Statue

The 13-foot, one-ton replica was built, in part, with pieces of the shattered statue that were retrieved from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Baltimore officials refused to install the new statue in public, prompting Russo to initiate correspondence with the Trump Administration.

This historic move by the White House is the latest in a series of advocacy and legal victories for COPOMIAO. Through its National Counsel George Bochetto, the organization secured back-to-back unanimous rulings in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, blocking the removal of Pittsburgh’s Columbus statue and restoring Columbus Day as a citywide holiday in Philadelphia. Bochetto also prevented the deconstruction of Philadelphia’s nearly 150-year-old Columbus monument.

In the coming days, COPOMIAO will announce its next major pro-Columbus lawsuit, and the organization continues to work on all levels, from grass roots activism to its collaboration with the Italian American Congressional Delegation on Capitol Hill, to advocate for Italian American culture.

The public is invited to share feedback on Columbus monument preservation with the Executive Branch through the Office of Presidential Correspondence.

ABOUT COPOMIAO

The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO), founded in NYC, is a national coalition of 74 cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation groups. Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) is a proud member of COPOMIAO.

Make a pledge and become a member of Italian Sons and Daughters of America today.

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