The São Paulo City Council has positioned itself against the decree-law that limits the transmission of Italian citizenship by right of blood.
“The Municipal Parliament of São Paulo, which has strong ties with Italy, does not agree with this new regulation that is being imposed by the Italian government,” declared the president of the Chamber, councilor Ricardo Teixeira (União), after reading a letter of repudiation in a plenary session at the beginning of the week.
Teixeira even went so far as to mock the decree of March 28.
“Saying that Mooca has no Italian descendants, saying that São Paulo has no Italian descendants, saying that Brás is not the face of Naples…”, he said, laughing, referring to the approximately five million Italian descendants in the capital of São Paulo and Greater São Paulo and the strong influence of Italian immigration in the region.
The letter, presented by lawyer Cristiano Girardello on behalf of Sergio Torres, who works with Italian citizenship, outlines the position of Natitaliani, a civil organization founded in Italy to defend the rights of millions of Italian-Brazilians.
In the document read by Teixeira, those responsible express concern about the proposal by Giorgia Meloni's government, “since the deep relations maintained over more than a century and a half between Brazilian families and Italy could be interrupted”.
“Talking about the city of São Paulo, without talking about its Italian descendants, is an almost impossible task”, says another excerpt from the letter of repudiation, which also highlighted the various bilateral relations between Brazil and Italy over time.
“I hope that the Italian authorities reconsider this point of view,” Teixeira asked after finishing reading the manifesto.
The text of the decree restricting Italian citizenship by right of blood is currently being processed by the Senate's Constitutional Committee, which has until April 16 to register proposed amendments.
Similar to a provisional measure, the decree needs to be approved by both branches of Parliament within 60 days, that is, by the end of May, to become definitive.
The text imposes a generational limit on the transmission of “jus sanguinis”, determining that only those who have one parent or grandparent born in Italy will be able to obtain dual citizenship.
The rule applies regardless of the date of birth of the Italian descendant, but does not affect processes already underway, and seeks to put a stop to the explosion of requests submitted over the last few years, especially in South America.
Furthermore, “oriundi” may also apply for citizenship if one of their parents is an Italian citizen and has lived in Italy for at least two consecutive years before the birth or adoption of the child. (HANDLE)
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