Test for citizenship

With the tremendous flood of immigrants wanting to earn citizenship in the U.S., the government wisely decided to re-do its test of just what those immigrants know about this country.

The government on Thursday unveiled 144 revised civic questions it will try out on immigrants who want to become Americans, as part of an effort to design a more meaningful citizenship test.

“When you raise your hand and swear your allegiance to the United States, you really ought to know what you are swearing allegiance to,” said Emilio Gonzalez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, a Homeland Security Department agency. “You ought to internalize by that time, the very values that make this country what it is, the very reason why you are raising your right hand. … Citizenship is not test taking.”

But it’s a place to start.

Under the draft questions, no longer would it be sufficient to name the three branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial). Applicants could also be asked why there are three branches.

I wonder how many Americans can readily answer that.

Another possible question would delve into the history of the Civil War. Applicants are now asked, What was the Emancipation Proclamation?

We all know that one….right?

A variety of groups with varying ideologies about immigration have been working with Citizenship and Immigration Service, meeting with them monthly, to advise the agency on drafting the questions.

I wonder how that’s going. Groups with varying ideologies on immigration haven’t found much consensus on anything in a long while.

Immigration advocates want to ensure that the new test does not make becoming a citizen more difficult, while groups that want to control immigration want to ensure newcomers are not simply memorizing information.

See what I mean?

Fred Tsao, policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the question about three branches of government is vague.

“The answer could be anything from because the Constitution says so to a long lecture on 18th century French political philosophy, which is where we got the idea,” Tsao said.

I seriously doubt they’re going to get a lecture — of any length — on 18th century French political philosophy. But something in between that, and ‘the Constitution says so’ is raising the bar on our citizens’s knowledge of American history and founding principles. Now, if they could accomplish that in our schools — without competing ideologies — our future leaders would be well formed.