My family gathered around our dining room table on Dec 17, 2017. It was dark out and we had turned most of the lights down as my dad pulled a cake out of the refrigerator and lit some sparklers. After having lived over 10 years in the United States, my mother had finally gained U.S. citizenship.
My entire immediate family is Brazilian-American: three are U.S.-born, one is naturalized, and like many dual citizens, we take immense pride in both of our nationalities. We take pride in saying we are Americans, and yet it seems more and more our country doesn’t feel proud of us.
At the start of December, Senator Bernie Moreno introduced the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025 which would outlaw dual citizenship.
More than just preventing people from gaining U.S. citizenship if they already hold one nationality, the bill, if implemented, would force any dual citizen to either renounce their non-U.S. citizenship or lose their U.S. citizenship against their will. The significance of this bill is not whether or not it will pass, but the message it sends.
Being American is no longer enough. Even if you do everything right and come here legally, speak the language perfectly and know the history. Caring about your country and feeling proud of the flag is not enough. So what is enough? This bill suggests a true American would renounce their heritage, their past or whatever they bring to the melting pot.
Forcing someone to renounce their citizenship is not only deeply immoral, but harms them in many ways. To families like mine, visiting family back in Brazil is already a difficult process. Finding time, money and actually getting plane tickets during the holidays and festivals is a demanding process. But having Brazilian citizenship makes our lives easier. We can get through customs easier, there is less regulation and our passports act as official documentation where driver’s licenses and citizenship cards would usually work. To ask us to renounce this is not only insulting implying we somehow care less, or are less loyal than any other American, but asks us to add further difficulty and challenges to seeing family we already have trouble seeing.
Over these past few years, America has become more and more hostile to foreigners but especially those of Latino descent. People who used to be dreamers are being turned into undocumented immigrants or “aliens.” Even those who did everything right and got green cards or visas are finding them revoked and naturalization ceremonies, like my mom once had, are canceled.
Of all the recent developments surrounding immigration, this bill has the potential to be among the most consequential. It fundamentally redefines the purpose of the United States by advancing an idea that feels profoundly un-American. It runs counter to the nation’s most basic values. Rather than welcoming other cultures, it turns away dreamers. Rather than embracing the idea of a melting pot, it rejects the very notion of hyphenated American identities like Mexican-American, British-American, Chinese-American, etc. In doing so, it transforms the United States from a nation built by immigrants seeking a better life into something far less special. If passed, this bill would undermine the American dream and force millions to choose between their families and the future they came here to pursue.
I ask anyone reading this, whether you have dual citizenship or not, to care and take action. Follow the status of this bill on Congress.gov or GovTrack.us and urge your representatives to vote against its passage as it moves through the legislative process.
