Is US making it harder to pass citizenship test?

Is the United States making its citizenship test more difficult?

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the United States has slowly been clamping down on immigration. Now, the US government is reinstating a civics test that was removed by the previous Biden government in 2020.

Trump had earlier signed an executive order doing away with birthright citizenship, which has been blocked by a slew of courts. But what happened? What do we know? Let’s take a closer look.

Reinstating 2020 version of test

The USCIS said it is reinstating a previous version of the civics test implemented by the first Trump administration. That 2020 version was scrapped by the Biden administration, which claimed it would “inadvertently create potential barriers to the naturalisation process.”

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The number of questions on the test that prospective citizens need to study about history and politics has gone from 100 to 128. Applicants now need to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly. Under the previous version of the test, applicants needed to answer just six out of 10 questions correctly. This will increase the difficulty of the test.

As per USCIS, the new test will be given to those who apply for US citizenship starting mid-October. The agency has said that the civics test has been around since the 1900s and has been subject to frequent changes.

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New topics introduced

Dwight Eisenhower, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the importance of the Federalist Papers are some of the new topics on which questions have been introduced. The 10th Amendment, dealing with states’ rights, has also been added as a subject. USCIS has said that while 25 per cent of the questions are new, the remaining 75 per cent remain the same.

Under the new test, officers are mandated to ask as many questions as needed to decide if someone has cleared the hurdle. Under the old test, officers were mandated to ask all 20 questions even if the individual had already passed or failed.

Passing the civics test has long been the final step to gaining US citizenship. Immigrants wanting to become citizens must show they have been in the United States legally for at least 3 to 5 years, that they can read, converse and write in English, and that they can demonstrate a basic knowledge of US history and politics.

The test is given orally by a citizenship officer.

Those who fail the test are given a second chance. If they fail again, their citizenship application is turned down. People 65 and older who have been permanent residents for two decades or more have to study just 20 questions. They can also take the test in the language of their choice.

USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said this is just the “first of many” changes that are coming. He said more will follow in the weeks and months ahead.

“American citizenship is the most sacred citizenship in the world and should only be reserved for aliens who will fully embrace our values and principles as a nation,” Tragesser said.

“By ensuring only those aliens who meet all eligibility requirements, including the ability to read, write, and speak English and understand US government and civics, are able to naturalise, the American people can be assured that those joining us as fellow citizens are fully assimilated and will contribute to America’s greatness.”

‘Troubling to me’

But not everyone is happy.

Some immigrants and advocates worry the changes will hurt test-takers with lower levels of English proficiency.

Professor Daniel Kanstroom of Boston College Law School told Time Magazine, “The question comes down to: are we a fundamentally open country or are we a fundamentally closed country? That’s what is at stake here.”

“It’s troubling to me that with this test change there’s a view of citizenship as a precious commodity, but then there is also this ‘gold card’ visa,” he said.

“Is it important for us to even have a civics test in the first place? I don’t know the answer to that question,” said Corleen Smith, director of immigration services at the International Institute of Minnesota, a non-profit that connects immigrants to resources.

Smith said USCIS already evaluates whether applicants have past criminal histories, pay taxes and support their children financially.

“They’re already evaluating that portion of your background. Is it also important to know this information about history and government and be able to memorise it?” Smith said, adding: “People that were born in the US and are natural-born citizens — a lot of those folks don’t know many of these answers to the history or government questions.”

These aren’t the only changes USCIS has made

The agency in August ordered its employees to do a more complete and “holistic” assessment of applicants’ “good moral character.”

It also said it would check prospective citizens and visa applicants for “anti-Americanism,” and in particular “antisemitic ideologies,” including their behaviour on social media.

Proposed changes on the horizon?

The agency had also proposed adding a speaking section to assess English skills. An officer would show photos of ordinary scenarios – such as daily activities, weather or food – and ask the applicant to verbally describe the photos.

“For me, I think it would be harder to look at pictures and explain them,” said Heaven Mehreta, who immigrated from Ethiopia 10 years ago, passed the naturalisation test in May and became a US citizen in Minnesota in June.

Mehreta, 32, said she learned English as an adult after moving to the US and found pronunciation to be very difficult. She worries that adding a new speaking section based on photos, rather than personal questions, will make the test harder for others like her.

Shai Avny, who immigrated from Israel five years ago and became a US citizen last year, said the new speaking section could also increase the stress applicants already feel during the test.

“Sitting next to someone from the federal government, it can be intimidating to talk and speak with them. Some people have this fear anyway. When it’s not your first language, it can be even more difficult. Maybe you will be nervous and you won’t find the words to tell them what you need to describe,” Avny said. “It’s a test that will determine if you are going to be a citizen. So there is a lot to lose.”

Another proposed change would make the civics section on US history and government multiple choice instead of the current oral short-answer format.

It remains to be seen what the Trump administration does next when it comes to citizenship and immigration.

With inputs from agencies