It starts with a quiz from a law firm: did your grandparents leave before or after 1951? Do you have their passports or marriage certificate?
If I answer correctly, I will get another email from a lawyer who specializes in citizenship claims. If I do not, my file may be quietly marked as a long shot. The stakes are high: if successful, I could ultimately obtain an EU citizenship for myself and then perhaps for other members of my family.
Like many other Americans, I began this process in a moment of disillusionment. Since the 2024 election, I have been living with what I have come to call “citizenship insecurity”, a new category of instability that millions of us are now grappling with. It is the unsettling sense that a US passport, once a symbol of safety and mobility, is no longer something we identify with.
I am not living in fear of Ice raids; I am privileged enough to be a US citizen. I am not applying for another passport out of immediate danger or fear. Instead, it is about estrangement: I no longer recognize my country’s values.
Since the US’s inception, Americans have told ourselves a story about who we are and what we represent. We knew we were not perfect, but we thought America at least pretended to try to stand up for democracy and human rights. Much of that story has been tossed aside in the last decade, along with the dismantlement of our social contracts. “Citizenship insecurity” captures the depth of that unraveling, not necessarily imminent danger but no longer recognizing America, or trusting its values.
Cool, so it’s not just me.
That sounds about right, but it still makes them an immigrant.
Ok. Yeah. I mean if EU becomes like the US is now it could be a real problem but the world would pretty much be sunk at that point.
Without trying to sound argumentative, I would suggest you pay more attention to European news. It is getting quite scary over there. For example, Germany now has an entire terminal at an airport dedicated to the deportation of immigrants.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=german+deportation+terminal&ia=web
Im aware. Sometimes you have had people with the stuff going on in the US ask about leaving and this is one of the complications. Where this stuff comes from is all around and power players influence one place from another. Fox news is murdok from australia and there was another asshole news mogul from canada. We all know putin has had a field day with the internet. Of course other complications are being invested in where you live and old fashioned if I don’t stay and fight who will. For myself im also older and don’t really want to go to someplace I like when im not sure how much I could give them going forward. Anyway yeah I wish europe was better but I certainly can’t say they are where we are now or even where we went with citizens united.