{"id":23872,"date":"2020-11-16T13:29:40","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T18:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=23872"},"modified":"2020-11-16T13:29:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T18:29:42","slug":"citizenship-test-uscis-new-regulations-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2020\/11\/16\/citizenship-test-uscis-new-regulations-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. Citizenship Test Should Be Challenging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency responsible for administering the naturalization exam, is revising the citizenship test \u2013 allegedly making it more difficult \u2013 according to CNN<\/a>. Although the agency announced its intention of changing<\/a> the civics portion of the exam and formalizing a decennial revision process in 2019 (the last time the test was revised was in 2009), CNN reported<\/a> on November 10 that USCIS \u201cappears to be nearing the finish line for its latest slate of changes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Update: USCIS announced<\/a> the revised civics test on November 13, which will go into effect on December 1.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The naturalization exam\u2019s civics section consisted of 100 questions<\/a>, which was increased to 128<\/a>. During an interview, citizenship applicants were asked up to ten of these questions, and had to get at least six correct to pass. Now the number of questions asked has been increased to 20, while retaining the same proportion of questions that examinees would have to get right (12\/20, i.e. 60 percent). \u201cThe memo also says USCIS officers will ask all 20 questions, rather than stopping when an applicant reaches the passing score,\u201d the CNN article states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, \u201cthe agency says it added more topics\ntouching on specific amendments to the Constitution, the \u2018rationale for the\nlegislative branch structure,\u2019 and an item on \u2018American innovations.\u2019 It also\nincludes more \u2018why\u2019 questions, though it\u2019s unclear what that entails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Predictably, CNN \u2013 and other pro-mass-immigration media outlets<\/a> \u2013 are not particularly happy about these changes, depicting them as part of the Trump administration\u2019s alleged crackdown on legal immigration (in fact, naturalizations rose<\/a> under Trump from 707,000 in FY 2017 to 843,000 in FY 2019). The network\u2019s Priscilla Alvarez expressed concerns<\/a> that the revisions \u201ccould make the test harder for immigrants seeking citizenship.\u201d Whether that is true remains to be seen, but the fears betray a degree of the \u201csoft bigotry of low expectations,\u201d as if immigrants were incapable of studying harder to pass a slightly more challenging naturalization exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concerns also expose a substantive philosophical\ndisagreement over something as fundamental as the meaning and significance of\ncitizenship itself. For the pro-mass-migration crowd, even historically high\nimmigration levels (over 1 million legal admissions per year, and almost 1\nmillion naturalizations annually) are never sufficient, and things like green\ncards and even citizenship certificates should be handed out more generously. Anyone\nwho disagrees must be a xenophobe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Americans, however, wonder whether it makes sense for something as sacred as U.S. citizenship to be given away too easily. The reality is that naturalization exams should <\/em>be reasonably challenging. (Given that the current pass rate is 90 percent<\/a>, it is legitimate to ask if the test is perhaps not too easy<\/a>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the proponents of easy citizenship would probably point out that many Americans \u2013 especially the young \u2013 would fail the civics test<\/a>, but that is primarily an indictment of our education system (also keep in mind that prospective citizens are given study guides with all questions and <\/em>answers, which American survey takers were not given).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the essential point is that citizenship is not merely a glorified green card \u2013 allowing people to live and work in the U.S. permanently \u2013 but the process of bringing a foreign citizen into our national community, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. New citizens gain the right to vote, and thereby influence our politics, run for office, and potentially obtain a government job (which could include access to classified information). America\u2019s Founding Fathers understood that maintaining our liberty-centric constitutional republic requires a great deal of civic virtue, knowledge, and engagement on the part of the citizenry. There is thus nothing wrong with asking a little bit more of prospective citizens. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency responsible for administering the naturalization exam, is revising the citizenship test \u2013 allegedly making it more difficult \u2013 according to CNN. Although the agency announced its intention of changing the civics portion of the exam and formalizing a decennial revision process in 2019 (the last time<\/p>\n

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