A clear majority of Americans oppose efforts to strip immigrants of their original citizenship, according to a new YouGov poll that puts Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno‘s controversial dual citizenship ban at odds with public opinion.
The survey found that 60% of respondents believe naturalised citizens should be allowed to retain their birth nationality, dealing a blow to the Ohio Republicans’ proposed legislation that would force millions to choose between their heritage and their American identity.
A National Conflict Of Interest?
The bill seeks to abolish dual citizenship for immigrants in the US. Moreno, a Colombian child emigrant, became a US citizen at 18 and renounced his Colombian citizenship, believing that multiple citizenships corrupt national loyalty.
Moreno told the press, ‘It was an honour to pledge an oath of allegiance to the United States of America and ONLY to the United States of America.’
He added that being a US citizen is a privilege, adding, ‘and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing.’
Under the current law, dual citizenship is allowed to residents of different nationalities.
The bill proposed by Moreno would give existing dual citizens a year to choose one nationality.
Those who chose not to do this would forfeit their U.S. citizenship. The bill claims that dual citizenship may result in conflicts of interest and divided loyalty, citing cases in which people are supposed to have allegiance to two nations and must live under two laws.
Majority Of Americans In Favour Of Dual Citizenship Rights
Public opinion seems somewhat opposed to these restrictions. According to a YouGov poll, about 31% of Americans think naturalised U.S. citizens should be required to renounce their former citizenships, while 45% disagree.
Among Democrats, 64% oppose forcing naturalised citizens to renounce other citizenships, while only 11% support the bill.
Meanwhile, Independents voted 44% against it and 27% in favour. On the other hand, 59% of the Republicans are in support of the policy that naturalised Americans should abandon other citizenships, with less than a fifth having the opposite opinion.
Allegiance To Which Flag?
Approximately 60% of Americans think that naturalised citizens don’t need to give up other citizenships, compared with 30% when offered a binary option.
A majority of Americans, too, are in favour of naturalised citizens taking an oath of allegiance without necessarily losing their citizenship in their country of origin.
To be more precise, 83% of Democrats, 52% of Independents, and 51% of Republicans support this solution.
The majority of Americans, however, including only a small minority, 7% of the Democrats and 25% of the Independents, favour mandatory renunciations of foreign citizenship.
Meanwhile, 21% of Americans feel that dual citizenship is bad for the country, while about 49% say it is good. In expressing loyalty, many Americans believe that dual citizens can be loyal to the US.
Only one in five considers dual citizens to be much less loyal than sole US citizens, and half of those consider them no less faithful.
Americans Who Wish For Dual Citizenship Also Affected
The bill will also impact US citizens who obtain foreign citizenship. A majority of Americans don’t consider themselves potential dual citizens.
About 73% of them have never considered becoming citizens of another country, and 17% have. Only 7% of Americans are already dual citizens with another country.
Statistics show that although some political leaders support limiting or banning dual citizenship, most Americans would prefer to keep the existing system that allows their citizens to hold multiple nationalities.
With laws such as Moreno’s receiving attention, even current societal influence suggests that the US will not necessarily shift its stance on dual citizenship any time soon.
Outlook for Dual Citizenship Legislation
Despite vocal support from some Republican lawmakers, the polling suggests Moreno’s bill faces an uphill battle with the broader public. Current US law permits dual citizenship, and these numbers indicate a limited appetite for change among voters across the political spectrum.
The debate reflects broader tensions in American immigration policy, but for now, most citizens appear content with a system that allows people to embrace their new country without erasing their roots.
Originally published on IBTimes UK
