ROME — Romina Acevedo talks to Italy Now about the Associazione Unione dei Discendenti di Italiani nel Mondo (Association of Italian Descendents Worldwide) that she set up and runs pro-bono. She takes no membership fee, no registration fee, and no salary. Romina set up her association a year ago and runs it for nothing, helping descendants of Italian emigrants navigate a citizenship law that took force on May 24, 2025. The law shut out anyone whose closest Italian ancestor is a great-grandparent.

Romina arrived in Italy from Argentina nine years ago, aged 22 with an Italian passport and months of hard work ahead of her at a law firm. What she brought was what every Argentine family keeps, the memory of a wooden trunk carried onto a ship.