Trump made citizenship test tougher tinged with partisan bias

By SATimes Team

What is the supreme law of the land?

Many documents influenced the U.S. Constitution. Name one.

Who does a U.S. senator represent?

Even educated natural-born Americans may find it difficult answering some such questions which are not part of the new citizenship civics test. From December 1, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has begun administering the new test to those hoping to become U.S. citizens. The test draws from 128 potential civics questions, with the approved answers posted on the USCIS website. The test is given orally, and all applicants for naturalization will have to answer 20 of those questions chosen at random, with a passing score of 12. It replaces the earlier test, last revised in 2008  that required applicants to answer six of 10 questions, drawn from a pool of only 100.

Several new questions call for biographical details about Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and Dwight Eisenhower, while another asks for “the purpose of the 10th Amendment.” Critics of the new test believe that it is intended to create an additional and unnecessary barrier to naturalization, says a commentary in The New York Times .

But perhaps the most significant feature of the test is its decidedly conservative political tilt, sometimes to the point of inaccuracy, points out Politico.  Take this: ‘Who does a U.S. senator represent?’ The acceptable answer now is: Citizens of their state. This has been changed from the 2008 version, which accurately (at least for now, unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise on the Census case) stated that US senators represent “all people of the state.”

The acceptable answers listed for  ‘documents that influenced the U.S. Constitution’ include  the Federalist Papers.   The Federalist Papers, however, were published to urge adoption of the Constitution, which had already been written and circulated, and therefore could not have “influenced” the Constitution.  Besides how many people have a clue to what the Federalist Papers were. The question about Alexander Hamilton, you are not supposed to say he is famous for spawning a Broadway hit, but he is ‘one of the writers of the Federalist Papers.”

What is the supreme law of the land? The new test wants to say [U.S.] Constitution. But Article VI provides that the supreme law of the land additionally includes the “Laws of the United States [and] all Treaties made.” While the Constitution is the most supreme of our laws, it also clearly provides that “Judges in every state shall be bound” by federal statutes and treaties.

“Name one example of an American innovation.” You can name many. But acceptable answers are: light bulbs, skyscrapers and landing on the moon.

While many questions have not changed, some have been reworded and others will require additional explanation in the answers.

The former test asked, “There were 13 original states, name three.” The revised version says “There were 13 original states. Name five.”

Image courtesy of (Visual courtesy univision.com)

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