US Senator proposes ending dual citizenship citing ‘divided loyalties’

WASHINGTON: US Republican Senator Bernie Moreno from Ohio plans to introduce legislation that would require any US citizen who has foreign citizenship to choose between the two countries, Fox News reported. It would also require that if a US citizen seeks a foreign citizenship in the future, that person would effectively give up their US citizenship.

Moreno, who was born in Colombia, but has since renounced his Colombian citizenship, said in a statement to 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”, he said. “It’s time to end dual citizenship for good”, as per Fox News.

Senator Bernie Moreno has introduced a bill to ban Americans from holding dual-citizenship called the Exclusive Citizenship Act.

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Moreno’s bill fits into the broader fabric of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration in the US, and it isn’t the first time that a lawmaker has sought to undo dual-citizenship laws in the country. Current law allows for Americans to hold citizenship both at home and abroad and does not require that a person choose one allegiance over the other.

Moreno’s legislation, dubbed the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, is billed as a measure that would bolster the interests of the US out of concern that holding dual citizenship creates “conflicts of interest and divided loyalties”. It would change that immigration law to make current dual citizens choose between the US and whichever country they hold citizenship in, as per Fox News.

The legislation would require that the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) create databases and rules to track and enforce the change in citizenship law. It would give Americans with dual citizenship one year after its enactment to either write to the secretary of state for a renunciation of their foreign citizenship or notify DHS of their intent to denounce their US citizenship.

If a person does not comply with the change within the year, they will automatically be considered to have relinquished their US citizenship. And for those who do give up their US citizenship, voluntarily or involuntarily, the DHS and attorney general will be required to ensure that those people are “appropriately recorded in Federal systems and treated as an alien for purposes of the immigration laws”, according to the bill text.

There have been previous attempts to dismantle the country’s dual citizenship law, most recently in the House, where Republican lawmakers have moved to ensure that their colleagues either disclose any foreign citizenship on their statement of candidacy or completely prevent anyone with a dual citizenship from serving in Congress.

And though US President Donald Trump has made moves to end birthright citizenship, which has been snarled in the courts and so far not taken up by the Supreme Court, the administration has not staked a position on dual citizenship.

Moreno’s push may also face issues in court. The Supreme Court weighed in on the question of dual citizenship in the 1950s and has upheld the ruling ever since. (ANI)