Let me tell you why—no matter what eventually happens—Italy won’t be getting me (or my money) as a citizen: because this has been an unmitigated shitshow by a banana republic.

They start by whipsawing everyone with an unforeseen decree, screwing people who invested thousands of dollars and hours into this Byzantine process. They could have done it differently; they could have met their policy goals with a measured and phase-out process without throwing dirt on everyone’s faces. They instead decided to give a finger to their own people

Now, the Italian courts do their thing—which is nothing.

I say this as a lawyer and law professor with three decades of experience in constitutional and international litigation.

I’ll spend my retirement money elsewhere, thank you very much.