ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the profoundly value-laden character of the increasingly incendiary dual citizenship debate, which threatens to polarize Americans in positions that will be difficult to compromise. It explains why dual citizenship is becoming both more common and more controversial. The chapter develops some distinctions that can add texture to our understanding of dual citizenship and helps us to identify some leverage points for possible policy change. It analyzes the arguments for and against permitting dual citizenship; it explores both the normative claims and the often-suppressed empirical issues that underlie the normative debate. Based on this analysis, the chapter considers how dual citizenship law might be reformed. Many existing citizens hold ideological views that might preclude their naturalization, and many others have acquired plural nationalities along with the risk of divided loyalties, which the naturalizing citizen must renounce.
