 However, applying the standard to all persons including US Citizens became problematic given the huge numbers of Italian immigrants and the even larger numbers of their descendants.Accordingly, the government most often applied the term to Italian-born persons who were not United States citizens, but especially to Italian diplomats, Italian businessmen, and Italian international students studying in the United States; all were classified as "enemy aliens" when Italy declared war on the United States.In some cases, such temporary residents were expelled (such as diplomats) or given a chance to leave the country when war was declared.