A proposal presented to the Provincial Council of Trento has reignited the debate on the Italian citizenship for the descendants of Trentino people who emigrated before the region's annexation to Italy on July 20, 1920.
The request asks the Italian Parliament and government to reopen the term of Law No. 379 of 2000, allowing the recognition of citizenship by descent for children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Trentino immigrants who left for South America, especially Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
According to the document, the current law—amended by Decree-Law No. 36 of 2025, converted into Law No. 74—has made access to citizenship virtually impossible for most of these descendants. The new rules restrict recognition to those whose father or grandfather was born in Italy, or whose father resided in the country for two years before the child's birth.
Cultural heritage at risk
The proposal recalls that, despite being born under Austro-Hungarian rule, Trentino emigrants brought with them Italian culture, language, and traditions. Italian citizenship had been recognized to their descendants through legislation based on the principle of jus sanguinis – the right by ancestry.
Among the norms cited are Law No. 555 of 1912, which recognized the paternal transmission of citizenship, and Law No. 91 of 1992, which reaffirms this right for children of Italian citizens, whether they are mother or father.
A call for connections with Trentino residents abroad
The document highlights that the current measure excludes more than 99% of Trentino descendants currently living in Brazil. For the authors of the proposal, this exclusion represents a historical injustice and compromises the bond between the region and thousands of families who still maintain Trentino traditions abroad.
“This is not just a legal issue, but one of identity, memory and historical justice,” says the text, which concludes by calling for recognition of the cultural and historical value of Trentino migrations and the restoration of the right to Italian citizenship for their descendants.
Text of the proposed vote (translated):
Between the late 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, thousands of men and women left the Trentino valleys, driven by poverty and lack of opportunities. They set out courageously, crossing the ocean to build new lives in South America, especially in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Although born under another state, they carried with them the language, culture, traditions, and a deep sense of belonging to Italian civilization. After the annexation of Trentino to Italy in 1918, the Italian state recognized the right to citizenship of the descendants of these emigrants through a series of laws based on the principle of jus sanguinis, that is, citizenship by descent.
It is recalled that as early as 1912, with Law No. 555, the Kingdom of Italy established the principle of transmission of citizenship through the father, and in 1983, with Law No. 123, equality between mother and father in the transmission of citizenship was finally affirmed. More recently, in 1992, Law No. 91, currently in force, established in its Article 1 that "the child of an Italian citizen father or mother is a citizen by birth," clearly reaffirming the jus sanguinis, and Presidential Decree No. 572 of 1993 made these provisions operational at the administrative level.
But not only that. With Law No. 379 of 2000, the Italian State also recognized the right to citizenship for descendants of those born in territories that belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, such as our Trentino, provided they declared this desire. This recognition was an act of historical justice. The same spirit inspired Law No. 124 of 2006, which extended the right to citizenship to descendants of Italians from Istria, Fiume, and Dalmatia.
Until 2010, the Republic rightly considered that it was not formal nationality at the time of the ancestor's birth that determined Italianness, but rather cultural, linguistic and family identity.
Unfortunately, all of this is now being questioned. The changes introduced in 2025, with Decree-Law No. 36, later converted into Law No. 74, impose new requirements: citizenship by descent will be recognized only if the child's father or grandfather was born in Italy, or if the father had resided in Italian territory for at least two years before the child's birth.
This seemingly technical measure effectively excludes almost all descendants of Trentino emigrants from the late 99th and early 1918th centuries. Just consider that in Brazil, according to reliable estimates, more than XNUMX% of citizens of Trentino origin are descended from people who emigrated before XNUMX.
This situation therefore seems profoundly unfair, as it eliminates a right that has been recognized and respected for decades. Above all, it risks breaking the living and authentic bond that still unites Trentino to thousands of families around the world who feel Trentino, who speak our dialects, who celebrate our traditions, who proudly carry the memory of their grandparents.
As an autonomous institution, aware of its own history, we have the duty to firmly demand that the normative window for the recognition of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis also to the descendants of Trentino people born under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as was possible until 2010.
This isn't just a legal issue, but one of identity, memory, and historical justice. And Trentino cannot turn its back on those who, even from afar, have never stopped feeling part of our community.
In view of all this, the Provincial Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento, under Article 35 of the Statute of Autonomy, requests the Italian Parliament and Government to reopen the deadline for the request for Italian citizenship in accordance with Law No. 379 of 2000, in order to recognize the historical, cultural and identity value of Trentino migratory flows and the importance of the link with communities of Italian descent throughout the world.
The text of the proposed vote
Tra la fine dell'Ottocento and i primi decenni del Novecento, migliaia di uomini e donne they left le valli del Trentino, spin from poverty and lack of opportunity. I leave with courage, crossing the ocean to build a new life in South America, soprattutto in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Sebbene native sotto un altro Stato, portavano con se la langua, la cultura, tradizioni e a profound sense of appearance alla civiltà italiana. Dopo l'annessione del Trentino all'Italia, avvenuta nel 1918, lo Stato Italian ha riconosciuto negli anni il diritto di cittadinanza ai discendenti di questi emigrati across uin the series of leggi fondate sul principio dello ius sanguinis, ovvero la cittadinanza per discendenza.
Ricordo che già nel 1912, con la Legge n. 555, the Regno of Italy stabilizes the beginning of it transmission of the city via father and mother in 1983, with Legge n. 123, yes finally affermava la parità between mother and priest in the transmission of the city. In It was very recent, in 1992, on Legge n. 91, currently in force, has sanctioned all'articolo 1 che “è cittadino per nascita il figlio di padre o di madre cittadini italiani”, ribadendo con chiarezza lo ius sanguinis e il DPR n. 572 of 1993 ha poi reso operative question provision of the administrative live.
But not only. Con la Legge n. 379 of 2000, the Italian State has rich nosciuto as much as the right all of the city's influence on color differences that were native to the appartenient territory all'Austro-Ungaric Empire, come to our Trentino, the condition doesn't mean it volontà. This rich growth is an act of historic history. And this spirit ha animation la Legge n. 124 of 2006, this is what I said before there is some understanding of Italian dell'Istria, di Fiume and della Dalmazia. Fine in 2010, the Republic has been immensely considerate if it weren't for the nation to form it at the moment when it was born of its own accord antenna to determine the italianità, ma piuttosto the cultural, linguistic and familiar identity.
Purtroppo, this question is now in discussion. The modified introduction in 2025, with Decree-Legge n. 36, so I convert it to Legge n. 74, impongono nuovi vincoli: the situation for discendenza will only be riconosciuta if there is a parent or a non-born in Italy, oppure if the parent has risen in the German Italian territory due to its cousin nascita del figlio.
This mixed, apparently technical, question In fact, it excludes the almost totality of my understanding of the Trentini emigration of the late Ottocento and early Novecento. I first thought about it in Brazil, second time attended, more than 99% of the city's origins in Trentina differed from the person emigrated in 1918.
This situation appears to be deeply ingious, but it cancels out a right that per decade is rich and generous status. Soprattutto, Rischia di spezzare il legame vivo e authentic che lega anchor oggi il Trentino a migliaia di famiglie en la mundo que si sentono Trentine, the speaker in our dialect, the celebrant of our tradition, the one with us fierezza la memoria dei loro nonni.
Come Istituzione autonoma e consapevole della storia propria, abbiamo il dovere di chiedere con forza chand comes riaperta la finestra normativa per il riconoscimento della cittadinanza italiana iure sanguinis anche ai discendenti dei trentini nati sotto l'Impero Austro-Ungarico, it is now possible in 2010.
It's not just a giuridica question, but of identity, memory and historical history. And in Trentino I couldn't return to Spain, far away, I couldn't feel more part of our community.
This is the premesso of the Provincial Council of the Autonomous Province of Trento, there sensi dell'articolo 35 del Autonomy Statute solve the Italian Parliament and Government a riaprire la finestra per la richiesta di cittadinanza italiana ai sensi della Legge n. 379 of 2000, affinchè vengano riconosciuti il valore storico, culturale e identitario dei flussi migratori trentini e l'importanza del legam con le comunità di discendenza italiana nel mondo.
