The reform requires presidential, gubernatorial, and Mexico City candidates to hold Mexican nationality exclusively, renouncing any other passport before running.

This article by Andrea Becerril originally appeared in the September 29, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left-wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. The Senate today approved, with the backing of Morena and its allies, a constitutional reform requiring anyone seeking the presidency, a state governorship, or the head of government of Mexico City to hold Mexican nationality exclusively; candidates who also hold another nationality will have to renounce it.

Morena and its allies reached exactly the 86 votes required for the qualified majority, bringing in alternates for four senators who could not attend for various reasons. The full opposition voted against the measure, along with the Green Party’s (PVEM) Luis Armando Melgar, who had previously said he would support it.

Over more than three hours of debate, Morena and its allies pushed back on the opposition’s recurring claims. The chairs of the Constitutional Affairs and Legislative Studies committees, Oscar Cantón Zetina and Manuel Huerta Ladrón de Guevara, rejected what they called the opposition’s “lies,” arguing the measure is a matter of sovereignty and institutional loyalty, since whoever aspires to lead the country must answer unambiguously to the interests of the Mexican people above any other tie.

Presenting the committee’s opinion, Morena Senator Saúl Monreal said the reform does not seek to change the recognition of dual nationality that has existed in Mexico since 1997: “The rule is clear — anyone seeking to head the presidency, a governorship, or the head of government must be Mexican by birth and not hold or acquire another nationality, for reasons of national security.”

Huerta Ladrón de Guevara likewise insisted the reform “is not aimed at anyone” and does not change the right of millions of Mexicans to keep a second nationality.

Mexico recognizes dual nationality, it protects it, and this reform does not change that principle.

Sen. Manuel Huerta Ladrón de Guevara

The opposition disagreed. PRI Senator Alejandro Moreno Cárdenas argued that holding another nationality doesn’t make any Mexican an enemy of the country, but that the reform harms the rights of Mexicans born abroad. A PAN senator accused Morena of treating migrants as second-class Mexicans: “They want migrants’ votes to stay in power and build artificial majorities, but they don’t want them to be elected.” Movimiento Ciudadano’s Luis Donaldo Colosio Riojas said the measure amends the Constitution to regulate something already covered by Article 32, and warned it could especially affect Mexicans born in the United States by making their political rights depend on renouncing a foreign nationality.

Two Morena senators offered personal testimony in response. Ricardo Sheffield Padilla said he was born in the United States but renounced that nationality at 18 — unlike his siblings, who “aren’t interested in politics” — and that he would vote for the reform without hesitation. Gerardo Fernández Noroña accused the opposition of repeating the same falsehoods and pointed to Latin American presidents, such as Colombia’s, who hold dual nationality and answer to Washington’s interests.

At the moment of the vote, Movimiento Ciudadano’s Alejandra Barrales demanded that Senate President Higinio Martínez confirm that Senator Octavia Hernández Farret — who was sworn in ahead of Karina Ruiz — had resigned from her job at the Mexican consulate in San José. Hernández Farret clarified that she had done so, stressing that she is a migrant living in the United States but remains Mexican all the same.

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