Senator Bernie Moreno, a Republican from Ohio, is reportedly planning to introduce a new law that would end dual citizenship in the United States. According to Fox News Digital, the legislation, called the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, would mandate US citizen who holds citizenship in another country to choose one, either the US or the other country.
Not only this, but the bill would also stop Americans from acquiring a new foreign citizenship in the future without giving up their US citizenship. The development comes amid Trump’s stricter stance on immigration, ranging from several green card rule changes to adjustments in work visas and a crackdown on illegal immigration.
Dual citizenship to end in the US?
The US senator, Moreno, who was born in Colombia but renounced his Colombian citizenship, said in a statement to Fox News, “One of the greatest honours of my life was when I became an American citizen at 18. It was the first opportunity I could do so.”
He added, “It was an honour 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.”
As of now, according to the US government, ‘US law does not require a US citizen to choose between US citizenship and another (foreign) nationality (or nationalities). A US citizen may naturalise in a foreign state without any risk to their US citizenship.’ However, this rule could change if Moreno’s bill is passed.
How the new law would work?
Under the proposed law, it would be the responsibility of the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to set up systems in order to track dual citizens. Once identified, Americans with dual citizenship would be given a year to either give up their foreign citizenship or formally renounce their US citizenship. Anyone who does not comply within a year would automatically lose their US citizenship. Meanwhile, People who give up US citizenship, voluntarily or not, would be recorded as non-citizens and treated under immigration laws as foreigners.
Moreno’s bill is part of Republicans’ current fixation on immigration issues and citizenship rules in the US. Currently, American law allows citizens to hold citizenship in multiple countries. There is no requirement to choose one allegiance over the other.
The new legislation argues that dual citizenship can create “conflicts of interest and divided loyalties.” If passed, all Americans who currently have dual citizenship would need to decide which country they want to be loyal to.
Past efforts and legal challenges
This is not the first time lawmakers have tried to limit dual citizenship. Recently, some Republican lawmakers in the House proposed that candidates should either disclose foreign citizenship or be barred from serving in Congress if they hold dual citizenship.
On the other hand, President Donald Trump is trying to put an end to the birthright citizenship, though that effort is still up in court and has not yet reached the Supreme Court.
