A US Senator, Bernie Moreno, has put forward the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025, a proposal that aims to stop US nationals from having dual citizenship.
Reports said that at the moment, US citizens are allowed to hold more than one nationality without giving up their previous citizenship.
Moreno, who once held Colombian citizenship but gave it up, said dual nationality creates “conflicts of interest and divided loyalties.”
He stated that citizenship should stand on its own, saying it should be viewed as “an honor and a privilege,” and that “if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing.”
“It was an honor to pledge an Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and ONLY to the United States of America.
“America First and America Only. It’s time to end dual citizenship for good,” he wrote on X.
If enacted, the legislation would directly affect Nigerians among thousands of people who currently hold US citizenship and another nationality.
US First Lady Melania Trump, who remains a citizen of both the United States and Slovenia, is also included in that group.
Data released by the US Department of Homeland Security shows that between 2021 and 2023, a total of 38,890 Nigerians became naturalised US citizens. During that timeframe, Nigeria was the only African country listed among the top 20 nations with the highest number of naturalised applicants.
While Nigerian law allows citizens by birth to keep more than one nationality, Moreno’s proposal would make Americans choose by renouncing any citizenship held outside the United States in order to keep their status.
This development follows an executive order issued months earlier by President Donald Trump. His directive seeks to limit automatic citizenship for children born in the US to parents who are undocumented.
Currently, that order is on hold because legal challenges have cited protections guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.