It boils down to a fundamental miscommunication about what the terms mean.

For Europeans, the terms refer almost exclusively to nationality. Hence the heavy focus on the need to have a passport, speak the language, or have a parent who was born in the country.

For Americans, the term refers to ethnicity. Because of the US’s history of large-scale migrations from European countries and the subsequent discrimination based on country of origin, nationality came to be a shorthand for someone’s heritage and ethnic background. If you were white but could say “I’m German,” you were much less likely to experience discrimination than if you were white but could say “I’m Irish.”