When Italy issued a decree to change its citizenship by descent rule last spring, in a move that shut the door to thousands of Americans with ancestors in the "Bel Paese," Pennsylvania resident Jesse Hughes told Newsweek the decision was "a real gut punch."
Hughes was hoping to get his Italian citizenship recognized through his mother's paternal grandfather, Giovanni Raccio, who was born in a small town called Gioia Sannitica, in southern Italy, and was brought to the U.S. as a child in 1912 when he was 6 years old.
A year ago, the process would have been possible. For decades, Italy allowed foreign nationals with an Italian ancestor alive after March 17, 1861—when Italy was unified into one country—to apply for citizenship under what is called jure sanguinis, or citizenship by descent.
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But growing criticism of the long-standing rule and an increase in applications, especially from South America, led Giorgia Meloni's government to change the policy in 2025. Under the Tajani decree, named after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, only foreign nationals with Italian parents or grandparents are allowed to seek citizenship.
Hughes, who had begun studying Italian with the hope of one day moving to the European country after obtaining citizenship, has now been cut off. "My mom and her cousin are still eligible, but I am shut out because the link is my great-grandfather, not my grandfather," he previously told Newsweek.
But in the months following the implementation of the new rule, Americans like Hughes who are seeking Italian citizenship through their ancestors have been holding on to the hope that things may still change. Some are even actively fighting back against the government's decision.
Two American families went to Italy's highest court, the Corte Suprema di Cassazione, on Tuesday to challenge the scope of the new law, alleging that it should apply only to people born after it took effect.
The Case Against the New Rules
Italy's top court is evaluating three cases in total that contend with the "minor issue," which the Meloni government introduced via a circular in October 2024, before the sweeping changes to the citizenship by descent rules.
The minor issue stipulated that if a parent of an Italian child born abroad naturalized while said child was still underage—with them becoming, for example, U.S. citizens—that would cut the line of descent. Crucially, the sudden implementation of the minor issue cut off those whose applications for Italian citizenship were already in progress, leaving many lost about how to move forward.
The court is now considering whether implementing the minor issue was legal through three cases involving two American families and one Venezuelan family.
"These families are invoking the fact that they are dual citizens at birth, they are Italian citizens at birth, and the new law, the so-called Tajani Decree, is cutting the right to Italian citizenship in a retroactive way," lawyer Marco Mellone, who is representing the two American families, told Newsweek.
"That is to say, it is cutting the rights of Italian citizenship to all already-born descendants of Italian immigrants all around the world, imposing on them new conditions, which simply they cannot match, they cannot comply with today," he said.
"To be born on Italian territory or to have at least one parent or grandparent having exclusively Italian citizenship—these conditions of course are in the past. A descendant cannot comply with them today because they are completely outside of their control," he added.
A law cannot retroactively revoke a right that has been standing for 160 years, Mellone argues.
If the court were to agree with the plaintiff, the impact would be significant, Marco Permunian, a legal consultant and founder of Italian Citizenship Assistance, told Newsweek.
"The 'minor issue' currently affects thousands of applicants with pending cases before Italian courts and consulates, including many represented by Italiancitizenshipassistance.com, one of the leading firms assisting Americans with Italian citizenship recognition," Permunian said.
While Mellone's case involves only two families from the U.S., its success could reopen the door to Italian citizenship to thousands of Americans who have seen it shut in their faces by the new law, as well as hundreds of thousands more people around the world.
When Can We Expect a Decision?
A final decision by the Italian High Court could come anytime within the next two to 12 months, Permunian said, though given the legal, social and political significance of the issue, he expected the court to expedite the process.
Mellone also believed a decision would likely arrive in the next 30 to 60 days.
Regarding the decision, Permunian said there were "strong reasons" for optimism.
"First, there is a clear conflict between the recent ministry circular and decades of established legal precedent. Second, the case involves fundamental rights, and there is a strong expectation that the court will favor a stable and consistent interpretation of the law that protects individuals who have already initiated their applications," he said.
"Notably, the general prosecutor—who is required under Italian law to intervene in citizenship cases in the 'interest of the law'—expressed support for granting citizenship to the petitioners. During the hearing, the prosecutor also raised concerns regarding the 2025 Tajani Decree, particularly the introduction of generational limits, describing such restrictions as potentially inconsistent with the principles of the Italian Constitution," he continued.
Historically, Italian courts, including the Supreme Court of Cassation, have consistently adopted a broad and protective interpretation of citizenship by descent, which makes Permunian believe they may do so again in this case.
"Judges have repeatedly emphasized that administrative limitations cannot override constitutional rights. While no outcome is guaranteed, the strength of this existing jurisprudence suggests that the challenge is legally well-founded," he said.
'We Still Have a Chance'
If the minor issue is kept in place, Hughes' case "is essentially over," he told Newsweek. If it is overturned, however, he and his mother—who remained eligible despite the rule change—plan to send in their forms to apply for Italian citizenship.
"We found out from our lawyers that we still have a chance of getting our citizenship because they think we fall into the retroactivity clause included in L 74 [Tajani Decree]," he said. "My mother and I have already notarized and mailed our forms to our firm in California."
From there, the "most realistic scenario" for Hughes is that his mother would get her citizenship automatically, and then he would be eligible for residency in Italy and be able to apply for citizenship after living there for two years and taking a citizenship exam. "Which, frankly, I think is a pretty fair compromise," he said.
There is also another glimmer of hope for those like Hughes who have been shut out by the new law. 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.
"At its core, the legal challenge raises a fundamental question: whether Italian citizenship by descent constitutes a permanent status acquired at birth, rather than a benefit that can later be restricted by the state," Permunian said.
"Under long-standing jurisprudence, jure sanguinis is recognized as a right that exists from birth—not one granted at the discretion of public authorities," he continued. "If that principle is upheld, it would mean that individuals who qualified at birth cannot be retroactively excluded by subsequent legal changes."
Correction 4/20/26, 10:22 a.m. ET: The article has been updated to correct the spelling of Jesse Hughes.