Official portraits of Rep. Abe Hamadeh of Arizona and Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, sponsors of separate House and Senate bills that have renewed congressional debate over dual citizenship.
Two separate bills introduced in the U.S. House and Senate are reigniting national debate over dual citizenship, underscoring sharply divergent views on how the United States should treat individuals with allegiance to more than one nation.
House bill seeks census data on dual citizens
The first measure, H.R. 6486, was introduced in the House of Representatives on December 5 by Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Arizona). The bill directs the U.S. Census Bureau to collect information on dual citizenship status as part of the decennial census.
According to the bill text, the goal is to gain a clearer statistical understanding of how many U.S. residents hold citizenship in another country. The bill does not prohibit, penalize, or redefine dual citizenship. It remains strictly a data-gathering measure.
The proposal has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. As of this writing, no hearings or markups have been scheduled.
The bill’s sponsor, a freshman congressman, has argued that “the American people deserve to know” how widespread dual citizenship is. Critics of the proposal have raised concerns about potential misuse of the data, although no enforcement mechanisms or penalties are outlined in the current draft.
If passed, the measure would apply to the next decennial census and would make dual citizenship a standard census category, similar to race, ancestry, and language.
Senate bill seeks to eliminate dual nationality
In contrast, a more sweeping proposal in the Senate aims to outlaw dual citizenship altogether.
The bill, informally known as the “Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025,” was introduced by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
According to the published bill text, U.S. citizens would be prohibited from holding any foreign citizenship. Individuals who already possess dual citizenship would be required to renounce one nationality within one year of the law’s enactment. Failure to comply would result in the automatic forfeiture of U.S. citizenship.
Furthermore, the bill states that any U.S. citizen who acquires foreign nationality after the law takes effect would be considered to have voluntarily relinquished their American citizenship.
The bill also outlines procedures for creating a federal registry of dual nationals and directs agencies such as the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security to coordinate enforcement.
Supporters say the measure is intended to clarify exclusive national loyalty. Critics, including legal scholars and immigrant-rights groups, have called it legally questionable and constitutionally vulnerable, citing decades of U.S. Supreme Court precedent that protects against involuntary loss of citizenship.
As of press time, no Democratic senator has co-sponsored the legislation.
Legal and policy backdrop
Current U.S. law permits dual citizenship. The State Department recognizes that many Americans hold multiple nationalities, particularly by birth, marriage, or naturalization. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that citizenship cannot be stripped unless an individual knowingly and voluntarily relinquishes it.
Both bills arrive amid a broader political discourse on national identity, loyalty, and immigration. While the House bill reflects a bureaucratic impulse to quantify and track dual citizens, the Senate measure represents a more ideological approach that seeks to redefine citizenship itself.
