Americans With Dual Passports Warned: Senator's New Bill Could Strip Key Benefits Overnight
By: By Chelsie Napiza - International Business Times UK
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Americans With Dual Passports Warned: Senator's New Bill Could Strip Key Benefits Overnight
A new bill from Senator Bernie Moreno would ban dual citizenship, forcing millions of Americans to renounce a foreign passport or give up their U.S. citizenship.
Passport on American flagFreepik.com
A Republican senator has introduced legislation that would force millions of Americans holding dual citizenship to make an impossible choice: give up their foreign passport or lose their US nationality.
Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio unveiled the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025 last week, declaring that American citizenship demands 'sole and exclusive allegiance.'
The bill would give existing dual nationals just one year to renounce their foreign citizenship or formally surrender their US passport. Those who fail to comply would be treated as aliens under immigration law.
The proposal has sparked immediate backlash from constitutional scholars and immigrant communities, with critics pointing out it could even affect First Lady Melania Trump and her son Barron, both reported to hold Slovenian citizenship.
What the Exclusive Citizenship Act Would Actually Do
The four-page bill makes it unlawful to hold US citizenship while possessing any foreign nationality. Anyone who acquires foreign citizenship after the law takes effect would automatically lose their American nationality.
Senator Bernie Moreno has introduced a bill to ban Americans from holding dual-citizenship called the Exclusive Citizenship Act.
Follow: @AFpostpic.twitter.com/bA67vBj52K — AF Post (@AFpost) December 2, 2025
Existing dual citizens would face a 365-day deadline to submit either a renunciation of their foreign citizenship to the State Department or a formal renunciation of US citizenship to the Department of Homeland Security. The substantive prohibition would kick in 180 days after enactment.
'If you want to be an American, it's all or nothing,' Moreno said in his press release. The naturalised citizen, who previously renounced his Colombian nationality, framed the measure as protecting national security interests.
Constitutional Obstacles And Legal Precedent
Legal scholars say the bill collides with decades of Supreme Court precedent that sharply limits Congress's power to strip citizenship. In Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), the Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment protects against involuntary revocation of citizenship; only voluntary renunciation suffices.
Later, Vance v. Terrazas (1980) clarified that the government must prove an individual intended to relinquish U.S. nationality; an expatriating act alone is not conclusive. Taken together, those decisions create a high bar for any statute that purports to automatically deprive persons of citizenship merely for holding a foreign passport.
Constitutional litigators say Moreno's text, which would deem non-compliance an act of 'voluntary relinquishment,' appears designed to invite a constitutional test.
In practice, courts have required proof of intent to abandon US nationality; since 1990, the State Department has also applied an administrative presumption that many acts of foreign affiliation, by themselves, do not show intent to relinquish citizenship.
Legal experts predict swift litigation and likely temporary injunctions should the bill pass. The collateral impact on passports, Social Security, tax status, and domestic rights would be extensive while litigation proceeds.
Political Fallout and the Melania Trump Problem
The proposal has created uncomfortable optics for the Republican Party. Melania Trump and her son Barron reportedly hold both American and Slovenian citizenship, meaning the bill's one-year window would force the president's own family into a public choice.
Immigrant advocates warn the measure disproportionately targets naturalised Americans who maintain foreign passports for family connections, property ownership, or travel purposes. Critics argue it ignores the realities of global families, risks creating statelessness where foreign nations do not readily accept renunciations, and would require extensive surveillance to verify compliance.
The Supreme Court ruled on this issue in the 50s and it has always held up. Even if it somehow passes through Congress, which is unlikely given how many of them are dual citizens (Melania and Baron Trump are too), it will be challenged in the courts and fail. — Taffy Lee Fubbins (@baby_oftheyear) December 2, 2025
The bill has been introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If the measure proceeds to markup and floor votes, expect a fierce fight: constitutional law professors, civil-liberties organisations, and foreign-born communities plan rapid legal and political pushback, while some Republican hardliners may hail the proposal as bold reform.
Given the Supreme Court precedent and the practical difficulties of enforcing mass renunciations, the bill's chances of surviving judicial review are low.
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That should effectively throw a lot of actors, musicians, doctors, scientists, academics, authors, other celebrities including my son, out of America. Goodbye Neil, Joni, Ryan, Kiefer, and will make more Canadians into enemies of America than Trump has already succeeded in accomplishing.
Want so see some others America may be losing?
32 Celebrities Who Became U.S. Citizens
LINK -> 32 Celebrities Who Became U.S. Citizens