In an alert sent to the Portuguese community living in the United States, the Luso-American Leadership Council (PALCUS) called for action, urging “members and friends” of the Luso-American community to contact senators and representatives in Congress and express their rejection of this bill.
“We write to urgently draw attention to a newly introduced bill in the Senate that, if approved, would significantly and adversely affect thousands of Luso-Americans and other citizens with dual nationality in the United States,” stated PALCUS, the only organization representing Portuguese and Luso-descendants nationally in the United States.
The issue at hand is a bill proposed in the Senate, titled the “Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025,” which would prohibit any person from simultaneously holding U.S. citizenship and the citizenship of another country. The proposal comes from Senator Bernie Moreno, a Republican from Ohio, who was born in Colombia but renounced his Colombian citizenship.
According to the bill, individuals currently holding dual citizenship would be required to choose between U.S. citizenship and foreign citizenship within one year. Failure to comply with this requirement would be considered a voluntary renunciation of U.S. citizenship.
Additionally, anyone who acquires another citizenship after the law is enacted would automatically lose U.S. citizenship. This is not the first time a legislator has attempted to repeal dual nationality laws in the country, with experts predicting that constitutional and administrative barriers will prevent the proposal from becoming a reality.
Current legislation allows Americans to hold more than one nationality without requiring a person to choose one loyalty over another.
“If approved, this legislation would drastically alter the longstanding policy of the U.S., which currently permits dual citizenship in most circumstances. It would impose significant pressure on families, businesses, cultural organizations, and all those who maintain strong ties to their heritage and their country of origin,” warned PALCUS.
“Many in our Luso-American community — including several members of PALCUS — would be directly and negatively affected,” emphasized the organization. The proposed bill would require Luso-Americans to renounce “part of their identity, and many would be forced into an impossible choice,” it further argued.
Currently, PALCUS is closely monitoring this federal proposal and preparing to engage with lawmakers, partner organizations, and community leaders to ensure Luso-American voices are heard during the process.
Noting that legislators respond when their constituents speak out in large numbers, PALCUS urged the Portuguese community in the U.S. to contact the senators and congress members elected from their respective districts, express opposition to the bill, and encourage them to vote against it.
Also, the advisor for Portuguese communities in the Washington circle, Frank Ferreira, was one of the Luso-American voices that publicly rejected this proposal and urged the Portuguese government to oppose it before the administration of Donald Trump.
As a proud Luso-American, I vehemently oppose the ‘Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025.’ The sponsor’s argument that ‘having dual citizenship creates conflicts of interest and divided loyalties’ is, at best, wrong, and at worst, insulting and unconstitutional,” argued Frank Ferreira in a press statement sent to Lusa.
“This legislation is fracturing, an attack on bilateral relations between Portugal and the United States, and a blatant violation of constitutional rights defined in U.S. law — which also applies to Luso-Americans,” he added.
This new proposal could directly impact the U.S. First Lady, Melania Trump, and the President’s youngest son, Barron Trump, both of whom have U.S. and Slovenian citizenship.
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