A new proposal to strip Americans of dual citizenship—legislation that could personally affect First Lady Melania Trump and her son, Barron—has drawn sharp criticism from a leading immigration attorney who once represented the first lady.
Why the Debate Matters
Senator Bernie Moreno’s push to end dual citizenship has ignited an unusually high-stakes political and legal fight. The proposal would force millions of Americans to choose a single nationality—and, symbolically, it reaches into the president’s own family.
The measure challenges decades of Supreme Court precedent protecting Americans from losing their citizenship against their will. Wildes—who previously represented Melania Trump—argues it ignores the realities of mixed-status families and the many Americans who are born with more than one nationality.
As the bill begins moving through the Senate, it raises deeper questions about national identity, constitutional limits, and how far the government can go in redefining what it means to be an American.
Key Details of the Proposal
What the Bill Would Do
Senator Bernie Moreno’s Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025 would bar U.S. citizens from holding any foreign nationality at the same time.
The bill declares that “an individual may not be a citizen or national of the United States while simultaneously possessing any foreign citizenship” and that current dual nationals would have one year to renounce their non-U.S. citizenship or be “deemed to have voluntarily relinquished United States citizenship.”
First Lady Melania Trump, who became a naturalized American in 2006, is a dual citizen of the United States and Slovenia, as is her son Barron.
Michael Wildes, managing partner of the immigration law firm Wildes & Weinberg, an adjunct professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and mayor of Englewood, New Jersey, previously clarified the first lady’s immigration status during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Speaking exclusively to Newsweek about Moreno’s proposal, Wildes said: “A bill without the force of law is simply a piece of paper. The United States is one of many countries that permits its citizens to hold dual nationality, whether acquired by the wonderful choice to naturalize or by virtue of birth.”
Wildes also pushed back on the idea that dual nationality inherently creates divided loyalty, citing early American history.
“Our founding parents and many of our first presidents were dual nationals of both the United States and other countries—including our then-enemy, Great Britain,” he said.
He added that “to claim that our military personnel are not loyal simply because they are not U.S. citizens, or that dual nationals cannot devote their full service to this country, is preposterous.”
Wildes further pointed to what he sees as unresolved issues in the proposal, noting that it “does not address the large population of Americans who are born dual citizens or multinationals.”
According to Wildes, “America’s military presence abroad results in American citizens born overseas who are eligible for both U.S. and foreign citizenships.”
Mixed-Status Families and Symbolic Stakes
While declining to speak directly about the Trump family’s citizenship status, Wildes said “many of our clients come to us as dual nationals or as foreign nationals who wish to retain their current nationality after becoming American,” emphasizing that “there is great pride in retaining ties to one’s hometown or home country.”
He also pointed out that Senator Moreno himself “made the wonderful choice to become an American at the first opportunity,” adding that he hoped the senator sees himself “as part of this nation’s rich tapestry.”
Constitutional and Political Obstacles
Moreno has framed his bill as a test of national loyalty, calling U.S. citizenship “an honor and a privilege” and insisting that “if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing.”
But constitutional scholars note that long-standing Supreme Court precedent shields citizens from involuntary loss of nationality, making any attempt to strip citizenship without a voluntary act highly vulnerable to legal challenge.
The bill now moves into the Senate committee process, where its chances of advancing are unclear.
How Key Figures Are Responding
First Lady Melania Trump said: “I believe in the policies that my husband put together. Because I believe that we need to be very vigilant who is coming to the country,” adding that, “My personal experience of traversing the challenges of the immigration process opened my eyes to the harsh realities people face, including you, who try to become U.S. citizens.”
What Comes Next
Moreno’s dual-citizenship proposal now enters the Senate committee stage, where its path forward is uncertain and any progress would immediately encounter constitutional obstacles, given that Supreme Court precedent bars the government from revoking citizenship without a voluntary act.
If the bill were somehow to pass, federal agencies would have to create an entirely new system to identify and process all dual nationals—an unprecedented bureaucratic undertaking—while facing swift court challenges that would almost certainly delay or even block the law’s implementation.
