evidence: Hundreds of people from Northern Ireland, ranging from "determined" nationalists to members of the Orange Order, applied to give up their British citizenship over the last decade. [...] But because people from Northern Ireland are automatically deemed British under the British Nationality Act (1981), many opted to give up their UK citizenship so they could apply to be reunited with family under less-strict EU regulations. [...] Following a lengthy legal challenge by citizenship campaigner Emma DeSouza, the British government announced in May 2020 that all British and Irish citizens born in Northern Ireland would be treated as EU citizens for immigration purposes and could apply to bring a family member over under European law.