Monday, December 9, 2024

Trump administration revising the citizenship test

The Trump administration on Friday announced that it will revise the U.S. citizenship test to help make a “meaningful, uniform, and efficient test.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it had formed a naturalization test revision working group in December 2018 with “members from across the agency.” The agency added that it is “soliciting the input of experts in the field of adult education to ensure that this process is fair and transparent.”

“Granting U. S. citizenship is the highest honor our nation bestows,” USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement. “Updating, maintaining, and improving a test that is current and relevant is our responsibility as an agency in order to help potential new citizens fully understand the meaning of U.S. citizenship and the values that unite all Americans.”

Cuccinelli told the Washington Post that the changes will not be major. “Isn’t everybody always paranoid that this is used for ulterior purposes?” the immigration hardliner told the outlet on Thursday.

“Of course, they’re going to be sorely disappointed when it just looks like another version of a civics exam. I mean that’s pretty much how it’s going to look.” USCIS naturalized nearly 757,000 people in 2018, a five-year high, according to the agency.

THE HILL