'Right-wing tilt': New citizen test appears to 'subtly favor Trump-friendly immigrants'

A supporter of President Donald Trump in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 23, 2023 (Image: Shutterstock)

President Donald Trump's revised naturalization test could make it harder for immigrants who don't subscribe to MAGA mentality to become United States citizens, according to a report in The Hill.

Previously, "aspiring citizens had to answer at least six of 10 questions correctly, in an oral examination drawn from a pool of 100. As of last week, however, new applicants will be given 20 questions, from a pool of 128, with a passing score of 12," The Hill says.

The old test was "too easy," according to Joe Edlow, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

The new test, according to a spokesperson, "will weed out those who are not 'fully assimilated' and cannot 'contribute to America’s greatness.'”

Steven Lubet, Williams Memorial Professor Emeritus at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, sees it a bit differently, saying, "If the test accomplishes anything, it likely will subtly favor Trump-friendly immigrants, and disfavor MAGA skeptics."

Question 111, for example, asks “Why did the United States enter the Vietnam War?” The only approved answer, Lubet notes, is, “To stop the spread of communism.”

"Anyone who attempted to provide a nuanced or historically comprehensive answer — say, about geopolitical rivalry or control of resources — would risk being marked wrong, and perhaps branded an unassimilated threat to American greatness," he says.

The new test also "presents a profound problem for applicants who have been paying attention to the news," Lubet says.

"The approved answers plainly contradict the conduct of the Trump administration. For many of the civics questions, honest answers would likely be unacceptable, while the approved answers clash with Trumpian reality," he writes.

For example, one question on the new test asks why there are “three branches of government.” The given answer is “So one part does not become too powerful.”

But Lubet argues that answer contradicts the actions of the Trump administration.

"Trump, of course, has asserted virtually unlimited power under the 'unitary executive' theory, including an assertedly unreviewable power to order armed troops into U.S. cities, over the objections of state governors, under the pretext of 'insurrection' or 'rebellion,'" Lubet notes.

Lubet also argues the test "has a decidedly right-wing tilt," including "four questions or answers about the Federalist Papers, and two suggesting Trump’s preferred version of birthright citizenship."

"Question 124 asks for the meaning of the national motto 'E Pluribus Unum.' The answer, 'out of many, one,' is accurate for the time being," Lubet says. "Under Trump, it may soon be changed to, 'Out of many, only the right ones.'"

From Your Site Articles