Trump’s new citizenship test worries legal residents and advocates

The new citizenship test unveiled by the Trump administration on Friday is more difficult than previous versions in that it is longer, more nuanced and, in some questions, has a tinge of politics, The Washington Post reported quoting advocates.

According to The Washington Post report,the Trump administration unveiled a new U.S. citizenship test Friday, adding a broader array of history and civics themes while requiring that legal residents answer twice as many questions correctly to pass.

The new exam — which has been in development for years as part of a once-a-decade review — requires applicants to answer at least 12 oral questions correctly, up from six under the most recent exam, which has been in use since Oct. 1, 2008, late in George W. Bush’s presidency. Those taking the test must still get at least 60 percent of the questions correct, the report said.

Advocates for immigrants said on Friday that the exam appears to them to be more difficult than previous versions in that it is longer, more nuanced and, in some questions, has a tinge of politics.
The new study guide contains 128 questions in three categories — American government, American history, and symbols and holidays — up from 100 in the older version. The new test also might take longer to administer: Officers must ask all 20 questions, while lawyers said they usually used to stop when an immigrant answered the required minimum of six correctly, the report said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials said the updated exam will take effect Dec. 1, though elderly applicants who have been green-card holders for at least 20 years will be allowed to take the shorter version instead.

Joseph Edlow, the agency’s deputy director for policy, said the new test prepares immigrants “to become fully vested members of American society,” The Washington Post reported.