The path to citizenship now may be harder as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services implemented revisions to its naturalization test that went into effect Tuesday.
In one of the final moves culminating four years of controversial immigration policies under President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration, the government is giving a new test that is lengthier, includes topics not covered previously and requires new applicants to correctly answer twice as many questions as the previous test.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an awful, unfair, last-second change in a very sacred process,鈥� said Eric Cohen, executive director of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, an organization that advocates for rights for immigrants and racial justice.
鈥淭his administration has, for the last nearly four years, tried everything in its power to keep immigrants from coming here legally,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淥nce again (it) is trying to throw sand in the gears of any and all immigration processes…making it harder for people to realize their dream of becoming naturalized citizens.鈥�
Although the passing benchmark for the citizenship test remains 60 percent, applicants will now have to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly, compared to the previous requirement of 6 out of 10. However, applicants 65 years or older who have lived in the country with 鈥渓awful permanent resident status鈥� for at least 20 years will be allowed to take the older version of the test, according to the USCIS.
The pool from which the set of questions will be chosen has also been expanded 鈥� from 100 to 128 鈥� which means applicants will have to study more material.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a haphazard attempt to change the test for no reason at all,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淭hey claimed every 10 years it鈥檚 supposed to be changed, which is not true at all. There鈥檚 nothing like that in the regulations or in the laws. It鈥檚 all made up and lies, so it鈥檚 very frustrating then that they do this on their way out the door.鈥�
USCIS declined Capital 草莓传媒 Service鈥檚 request for a comment. But the agency said in its announcement that the revisions were made 鈥渁s part of a decennial update to ensure that it remains an instrument that comprehensively assesses applicants鈥� knowledge of American history, government and civic values.鈥�
The test is also more difficult in terms of language, Cohen and Nancy Newton, the program director of the citizen preparation program at Maryland鈥檚 Montgomery College, told CNS.
The new test has shifted from a high-beginning and low-intermediate level of English to a low-intermediate and high-intermediate level, and 鈥渋t will certainly require hiring the skills鈥� of language learners who are applying, according to Newton.
However, Newton said the feedback she received from her students who were a part of the pilot program in which the USCIS tested this revised test was that 鈥済enerally they understood even if they didn鈥檛 have the answers.鈥�
Newton and her team are currently working 鈥渢o change our curriculum and change our lesson plans to meet with the new content鈥� of the test, which will be in place when new classes start in mid-January, she said.
Montgomery College is one of only two citizenship preparation courses in the Maryland, Washington and Northern Virginia region. The other course is offered at Baltimore City Community College.
The revised test does not include any questions regarding geography 鈥� there were previously about 18 questions. Newton said 鈥渁bout a quarter of the new questions are topics that we may have brushed upon but…not have gone in depth鈥� as they weren鈥檛 on the old test, such as the Electoral College and the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In addition to the new content, some questions have an ideological slant that is concerning, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit and nonpartisan immigration advocacy group.
Reichlin-Melnick said he has 鈥渟erious objection鈥� to questions such as 鈥淲ho does a U.S. Senator represent?鈥� and 鈥淲ho does a member of the House of Representatives represent?鈥� The answers, according to the USCIS study guide, are citizens from their state or district, respectively.
鈥淭his is not true,鈥� Reichlin-Melnick said. 鈥淢embers of Congress represent everyone who lives in their district and…this country has always relied on the principle that you don’t have to be a citizen in order to be represented.鈥�
鈥淗owever, the Trump administration has repeatedly pushed back against this basic idea of what it means to be represented,鈥� he said.
Another question that displays 鈥渟ort of a subtle bias towards a more conservative viewpoint鈥� according to Reichlin-Melnick, is 鈥淲hat is the purpose of the 10th Amendment?鈥� This is the only question about a constitutional amendment that does not have to do with voting rights or does not include an amendment as one of several possible answers, such as 鈥渢he President can serve only two terms. Why?鈥�
Not asking about other amendments and 鈥渃hoosing only that one specific amendment raises eyebrows,鈥� Reichlin-Melnick said. 鈥淭he amendment is about states鈥� rights and that is a thing where conservative legal commentators believe the 10th Amendment is particularly important to this country.鈥�
In addition to the added questions, increased difficulty and questionable content, one of the effects of these revisions could be worsened processing backlogs, which have already been impacted by the pandemic, experts told CNS.
Since the questions being asked have doubled from 10 to 20, the interview process could take more time, which may mean that 鈥渢hey鈥檙e going to be able to interview fewer people every day,鈥� Cohen said. That could lead to 鈥渓ong and longer delays for people trying to become a U.S. citizen,鈥� Reichlin-Melnick said.
The current processing time for naturalization applications is 10 to 13 months in Baltimore and 11 to 15-and-a-half months in Washington, according to USCIS鈥檚 website.
Due to the backlog and long processing times, the new administration of President Joe Biden could reverse Trump鈥檚 move before any applicant actually takes the test. But whether such a reversal will happen is unclear, Cohen said.
Changing back to the old version of the test 鈥渋s what (ILRC is) going to ask them to do,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淲e certainly hope (they do) because that would be the right thing to do.鈥�
Reichlin-Melnick held similar expectations from the incoming administration.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing wrong with changing questions but it鈥檚 a matter of making the test more difficult and longer for no apparent reason, and I certainly would hope that a new administration would take a close look at reversing some of the changes that were made,鈥� he said.
The revised test could deter some people. So might a nearly doubled application fee 鈥� from $640 to $1,170 鈥� if it ever went into effect. The higher fee was set to take effect Oct. 19 but has been blocked by a federal district court in California.
鈥淭here鈥檚 probably going to be some discouragement,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淏ut you鈥檙e talking about a really resilient group of people, immigrants who have gone through a lot worse than having a more difficult test.鈥�
