Washington DC [US], December 2 (ANI): Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio plans to introduce legislation Monday that would require US citizens who also hold foreign citizenship to choose one nationality, Fox News reported. The bill would also treat any US citizen who acquires foreign citizenship in the future as having effectively given up their US citizenship.
Moreno, who was born in Colombia and later renounced that citizenship, told Fox News, “One of the greatest honors of my life was when I became an American citizen at 18, the first opportunity I could do so. It was an honor to pledge an Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and only to the United States of America. Being an American citizen is an honor and a privilege — and if you want to be an American — it’s all or nothing. It’s time to end dual citizenship for good.”
The proposal aligns with broader immigration restrictions pushed during the Trump administration and is not the first congressional effort to limit dual citizenship. Current US law permits dual nationality and does not force citizens to choose a single allegiance.
Called the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, Moreno’s bill is presented as a measure to protect US interests amid concerns that dual citizenship can create “conflicts of interest and divided loyalties.” If enacted, it would amend immigration law to require current dual citizens to select either the United States or their other country of citizenship.
The bill would direct the State Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish databases and rules to track and enforce the change. It would give Americans with dual citizenship one year after enactment to either write to the secretary of state to renounce their foreign citizenship or notify DHS of intent to renounce US citizenship. Those who do not comply within that year would be treated as having relinquished US citizenship.
For people who lose US citizenship—voluntarily or otherwise—the DHS and attorney general would be required to ensure they are recorded in federal systems and treated as noncitizens under immigration law, according to the bill text.
There have been prior efforts to curtail dual-citizenship protections, including moves in the House to require lawmakers to disclose foreign citizenships or bar dual citizens from serving in Congress. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has pursued ending birthright citizenship, a matter embroiled in court challenges and not yet resolved by the Supreme Court; the administration has not taken an official position on dual citizenship.
Moreno’s proposal could face legal challenges. The Supreme Court addressed dual citizenship in the 1950s and its rulings have supported dual citizenship since then. (ANI)
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