The Trump administration is planning to make the test applicants take for U.S. citizenship more difficult, with a higher bar for passing and potentially an essay requirement.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies think tank in Washington Thursday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow called the current test “just too easy,” arguing that it allows for people to be “coached” through the immigration process who may not qualify for citizenship under U.S. law.
The potential changes, which do not seem to be imminent, are the latest move by the Trump administration to add more stringent scrutiny to applicants for U.S. citizenship. Last week, USCIS said it would resume interviewing applicants’ neighbors and coworkers, restoring a practice that had been paused since the George H.W. Bush administration.
The current citizenship test requires applicants to correctly respond to at least 6 out of 10 questions drawn from a set list of 100 questions available online, though the questions used during the exam are chosen at the discretion of the officer adjudicating the application. Applicants must also prove basic English skills. {snip}
Edlow said he didn’t want the test to be “so hard that it’s impossible” for anyone except highly educated applicants to pass. But he said the test needed be more “thought-provoking.” He offered that applicants may be required to write an essay outlining what becoming an American would represent to them and he suggested the test may move toward a more standardized format.
{snip}
The move reflects what immigration analysts and advocates have described as a shift in USCIS’ mission away from “customer service” for those navigating the U.S. immigration and naturalization process toward a concerted effort to root out abuses and fraudulent applications. Edlow embraced the idea that USCIS is primarily an “enforcement” agency in his remarks, as he pledged to combat malfeasance in the immigration system.
{snip}
The post Trump Administration Plans to Make Citizenship Test Harder appeared first on American Renaissance.
American Renaissance
