Senator Fábio Porta (PD) said in an exclusive interview with Italianism that there is “no chance” of generational limits being introduced by blood rights (“iure sanguinis”) in Italian citizenship law, despite approval in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday (22).
“What is under discussion is the opinion of a commission that is not even competent to approve changes to the citizenship law. The competent committee is the First Commission, Business Constitutional. What is under discussion is the law Jus Scholae, which does not modify in any way the jure sanguinis”, He stated.
He highlighted that the text proposed by the Democratic party (PD) only proposes the possibility of citizenship for young people who were born in Italy, children of a father or mother regularly resident in Italy, who completed primary or secondary school.
Integration
The senator also explained that it is customary for Chamber committees with matters in common with the topics discussed to be consulted to issue opinions, but that these do not play a determining role in parliament's final decisions. For him, there is no reason for “panic or divisions within the community”.
“My position, the position of the Democratic Party, is to value Italian descendants, as well as to integrate foreigners, including Brazilians who live in Italy and do not have access to citizenship, despite being born or living in Italy”, he added. Door.
Citizenship law
Concerning Italian citizenship law, which turned 30 years old, the senator commented that he considers the legislation outdated due to the difficulty in including young people and children.
“Despite being schoolmates with other Italians, speaking Italian, and supporting the Italian team, these children cannot become Italians except through a very complex and time-consuming process, at 18 years of age. It is an injustice and a loss from a social and economic point of view, because Italy is in a demographic recession and needs the inclusion of young generations,” she commented.
Cultural inclusion
He believes that it is necessary to introduce into law jure sanguinis elements of cultural inclusion. According to Porta, just as Italy takes advantage of this large number of young people, especially those born outside of Italy, it is also fair that these young people are able to appreciate Italian culture.
“There needs to be this approach to Italian culture, so that younger people, foreigners born in Italy and Italians born abroad, can always integrate our social and economic body. This must also be discussed within the current law jure sanguinis, but this does not mean placing generational limitations”, he said.
The senator recalled that he was the author of a law that allowed, from 2017, 30% of consulate resources – paid through the citizenship tax – began to be reinvested to eliminate queues for citizenship processes. He argues that work must continue so that these resources reach 100%, for investment in culture.
“I see no reason to contrast iure culturae e jure sanguinis, jus scholae e jure sanguinis. We are children of immigrants, we know more than anyone about the importance of the mixing of peoples. We have to work towards integration and not pitting one against the other. Anyone who says otherwise either has bad faith or doesn’t know history”, said the parliamentarian.
Grand Naturalization
Finally, he commented on the hearing on July 12, when the Corte suprema di cassazione will comment on the “Grand Naturalization” Brazilian, thesis raised by State Attorney.
Porta said that he has already expressed his concern about the issue through parliamentary minutes presented to the Ministry of Justice and Foreign Affairs and that he finds it “profoundly wrong” for an Italian judicial body to interfere in the legislation governing the processing of citizenship.
“I consider this stance regarding the 'Great Naturalization' absurd and wrong. It also demonstrates a lack of knowledge of the history of the Italian community in Brazil and the lack of a consular structure at the time. Therefore, I hope that responsible and serious judges will not allow such a grave error to proceed,” the senator concluded.
Listen to the full audio of the interview with Senator Fábio Porta:
