We’ll see if anything comes of this, but this is sure going to be controversial (thanks to Karl for flagging this).
Republican Senator aims to end dual citizenship
Bernie Moreno, a Republican Senator from Ohio, has introduced the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, to establish that citizens of the United States must have sole and exclusive allegiance to the United States. As Colombian-born Senator Moreno explains:
“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.”
Current laws allow United States citizens to also maintain foreign citizenship, though this bill would require them to forfeit their dual citizenship. The argument is that dual citizenship creates conflicts of interest and divided loyalty.
If this bill were approved, within one year of enactment, those with dual citizenship would have to renounce their foreign citizenship, or submit a renunciation of their United States citizenship. Of course let me emphasize that this is just a proposal, and it’s anyone’s guess if something comes of this.
My take on United States ending dual citizenship
Personally, I’m opposed to this change, and that’s not just because I have dual citizenship. In fairness, the United States would be far from the first country to ban dual citizenship. However, most countries that ban dual citizenship are in Africa and Asia, with very few countries in the Americas or Europe having such a policy.
Obviously any “take” on this is going to be inherently political. Personally, I’m grateful to live in the United States, and all the things the country offers (opportunity, free speech, etc.). That being said, I’m not some nationalist who thinks “my” country can do no wrong (and that would be the case for the United States, Germany, or any other country I could have citizenship with).
Another thing I’m grateful for about living in the United States is that we don’t have a draft, so I don’t have to be in the military, and I can just passively live as a happy American, rather than having some sort of an allegiance (and let me of course say that I appreciate and respect those who do choose to serve, and realize those freedoms were fought for). Yes, admittedly I’m a bit of an anti-war hippie…
But I also don’t really get what this is supposed to accomplish, other than performative patriotism? What’s all or nothing? What exactly is my singular oath of allegiance to the United States supposed to change?
I also wonder if this wouldn’t be counter to the interests of the United States. The country currently has global taxation for citizens, so dual citizens are still very much “paying” for being American. Maybe forcing people to choose would cause more people to actually renounce their US citizenship.
Bottom line
A United States Senator has introduced a bill to ban dual citizenship. The argument is that citizens need to have full allegiance to the United States, so if they’re not willing to renounce their foreign citizenship, they should renounce their US citizenship. We’ll see if anything comes of this, but that’s quite an extreme proposal…
What do you make of this proposal?
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