Trump Will Make the Citizenship Test More Difficult

The new director of USCIS, Joseph B Edlow, announced that they will make the citizenship or naturalization test more difficult. As you know, to become a citizen, you have to pass a test with questions about US history and civics, and, with the exception of people who meet the age requirement, you must know basic English.

Trump has said that the test to become a citizen is too easy and that he wants to make it more difficult, so they are planning to ask more difficult questions. Currently, the test consists of two parts, one focused on the applicant's English proficiency and the other on knowledge of US history and government with questions such as how many states the country has, characteristics of the flag, names of certain authorities, etc. Applicants must study a questionnaire of 100 questions and answer at least 6 out of 10 correctly when asked by the examining officer. Obviously, they do not know which of the 100 questions they will be asked.

The new director wants to increase the number of questions to 20, of which the applicant must answer at least 12 correctly. There is also talk of eliminating the exception to the English requirement that benefits applicants over 50 with 20 years of legal permanent residence and those over 55 with 15 years of legal permanent residence, which will mainly affect Latino immigrants who have been in the country for many years but who, due to lack of education or because they are surrounded by Hispanics, are not proficient in English.

The curious thing is that Trump and his people say that the problem today is that people can memorize the answers. I have attended school for more than 18 years and I wonder what kind of test does not involve memory. They criticize the fact that people can pass the test by memorizing the answers, but obviously memorization is part of knowing the answers. Once again, this is an example of how illogical Trump supporters are.

The contradiction is that on the one hand, they want more people to become citizens and show greater commitment to the country, and on the other hand, they want to make it more difficult.

It would be best for people who are thinking of applying for citizenship to do so as soon as possible, although we do not know exactly when this new change to the exam will take effect.

If you want to apply for citizenship, you can call my office (616-235-4577). Remember that you must have five years of legal residence or three years if you obtained residency through marriage to a citizen, and you must be over 18 years of age.

‍

DEMAND THAT THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS PASS THE ORDINANCE TO BECOME A SANCTUARY CITY FOR IMMIGRANTS

At the city commission meeting on Tuesday, July 29, more than 100 people attended to demand that the commission and the mayor approve certain pro-immigrant policies, including that the police not collaborate with ICE and not demand immigration status from people.

More than 40 people spoke in favor of the city defending immigrants, with not a single person opposed. Even so, we do not know what the commissioners and the mayor will do. The Cosecha group and the ICE Rapid Response group, two pro-immigrant organizations, also held a protest stating that the police and ICE are the same and demanding that the Grand Rapids police stop collaborating with ICE, especially since last week they arrested two White American women activists for supporting immigrants in front of the ICE offices in Grand Rapids. According to the police, the women were blocking the path of ICE officers.

The people from the Rapid Response to ICE group said that their intention was not to block the path and that they were willing to move their cars, but the police, responding to a call from ICE officers, arrested them and filed criminal charges, a clear example of the local police cooperating with ICE.

A few weeks ago, several Grand Rapids police officers responded to a complaint from the ISAP office, a private office that works with ICE to monitor people awaiting court, when members of the Rapid Response group showed up to protest the arrests of people attending this office. We continue to wonder why the police sent so many officers when there was no violent action and people were only exercising their right under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, the freedom of assembly.

The Grand Rapids authorities, who according to the mayor are pro-justice, must approve the sanctuary city policy and any other policy that supports immigrants.

In the coming weeks, the commission will vote to decide whether to approve a sanctuary city program. We will continue to demand that they pass pro-immigrant policies, not only for the sake of immigrants but also for the city.