Am I safe in the United States?

F

feathers

Moderator
I am wanted by the Italian government for a national crime that I did not know that I committed.

When I was born in Canada, my grandfather registered me in Rome so that I would have all of the benefits of being an Italian citizen. As a result, even though I never set foot in Italy, on my 18th birthday, I was required to serve in their military and when I failed to report after repeated notices, warrants were issued for my arrest.

I was completely unaware that any of this was happening because I was no longer living in Canada, where the notices were going. Instead, I had moved to America and I was even unaware that I was registered in Italy as a citizen.

Shortly after becoming an American citizen a couple of months ago, I suddenly started receiving all of these letters from the Italian government; some of which looked like they were several years old and had been forwarded back and forth.

After reading all of them and writing letters of my own, I was able to piece together this story. Do I have to fear a knock on the door and deportation to an Italian prison?

Cholmondeley Featherstonehaugh
 
Contact the Italian consulate in the city nearest to you.

I sincerely doubt that you're going to be deported over this.

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
Not trying to be funny, but what 'benefits' exactly does Italian citizenship confer ?

I'm asuming you are not a US citizen, but a dual Canada/Italy. I don't think this will be a deportable offense, but do contact your consulate. If you are a Canadian or US citizen, perhaps a talk with your State dept. might be in order FIRST.
 
I would strongly suggest talking to a lawyer before talking to any government agency, especially if there are any warrents out for your arrest. The governemnt might just wisk you away folowing some regulation unknown to yourself.
 
RH,

As I mentioned in my opening post, I became a US citizen a couple of months ago and shortly after that is when I started receiving all of these letters from Italy & Canada. I'm only a quarter Italian and never having even stepped foot in Italy, I'm not sure what benefits there are to citizenship there.

Cholmondeley
 
I'm with Herodotus -- starting talking to a lawyer ASAP. DO NOT CONTACT ANY GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL, US, CANADIAN, OR ITALIAN, BEFORE SPEAKING WITH AN ATTORNEY.

M1911
 
...what Herodotus & M1911 said!

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"...and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Luke 22:36
"An armed society is a polite society."
Robert Heinlein
"Power corrupts. Absolute power - is kinda cool!"
Fred Reed
 
Call the consulate, but remain anonymous. Then talk to a lawyer.

It would seem that since your citizenship is the result of actions taken on your behalf when you were a child, the US would not allow you to be deported. In other words, there is no "Criminal Intent." That may not matter in Italy, but it still sometimes does in the US.
 
Ah. Dual citizenship. A subject near and dear to my heart. Last I checked, there are two laws governing undeclared citizenship: Jus soli and Jus sanguini. Your Canadian citizenship is Jus soli (law of the sun: you are a citizen of the country on whose soil you were born.} I'm guessing that your Italian citizenship is Jus sanguini (law of blood: you are a citizen of the country that your parents were citizens of.) Be aware that Jus sanguini only applies to your mother and father, so I'm guessing that one or both of your parents were Italian citizens.

It's been decades since I've had to mess with this, so talk to a lawyer versed in international law. The US State Department will be able to help you there. If you feel you must call the Italian Consulate, be sure to contact the US State Department first. And do not visit the Italian Consulate in person--the Consulate is Italian soil, and you are subject to any and all Italian laws as an Italian citizen on its soil. Use the telephone.

Good luck.

LawDog
 
If you do not take the extremely wise advice of contacting an attorney first, then by all means contact the US State Dep't. anonymously. Not giving your name is not an anonymous phone call-all federal agencies involved with international affairs use caller ID on all incomings and they will have your location in minutes. Call with a prepaid card from a payphone.

Do not assume that the "benevolent" US gov't. will assist you in this "injustice".
If an Italian warrant exists, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it until you appear in person in country to resolve it or spend thousands (or tens of) to have an Italian attorney resolve this in your absence. The US gov't. will take no position in the "criminal justice" proceedings of a foreign country. Eventually, you will have to get this resolved, because even if you are not extraditable from the US, you may be held in any other foreign country at any time in the future as long as the warrant exists. A 3-day fishing trip to Canada could turn into the nightmare of a lifetime.

One last thing, I would be careful about international communications that you may have with any family members outside the US. All such comms. are subject to NSA monitoring, and with an international warrant in existence, guess who's at the top of the list?

Good luck,
pojim
 
feathers, welcome to TFL. Looks as though you've got a lot of good advice above.

And, on a lighter note, look at it this way ... Italy may be looking for a few good men, but the good news is that you retire when you're 28. ;) (I hear their 'social security' laws are just nuts.)

Regards from AZ
 
Check with your immigration attorney, but I don't think that the U.S. allows multiple citizenships. Once you swear in as a naturalized U.S. citizen you renounce citizenship in all other countries. Legally you are only permitted one passport if you are a U.S. citizen. You should now be an ex-patriot of both Canada and Italy.
 
I have no advice on this matter except to say it seems you are getting pretty good advice here. One thing I do know about, however, is that you should not go to the Italian Consulate. Call them if that is what a lawyer suggests, but if you go there, you are in Italy just as if you took a plane to Rome. They may be required to arrest you, even if your case is later dropped.
 
JeffOTMG: You're not quite accurate. For instance, there are very many of Mexican heritage who are U.S. citizens, yet are recognized *by the Mexican government* as Mexican citizens. A Mexican national can move here, meet the requirements for citizenship, yet not lose his Mexican citizenship. Lots of those folks along the TexMex border...

The U.S. government will not allow a natural citizen to acquire a second citizenship through some form of naturalization in a foreign country while keeping the U.S. citizenship. Mexico is not this way. I'm ignorant as to other countries' laws.

FWIW, Art
 
The US Government is quite firm in it's belief that one may only hold one citizenship.

The United States Government will also leave you twisting in the wind if some other country claims you to be a citizen and hauls you into court, attempts to detain you, or extracts compulsory services.

They will be kind enough to send someone from an embassy to pick up your US passport, though.

LawDog

[This message has been edited by LawDog (edited September 20, 2000).]
 
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