Rethinking the Naturalization Test: Assessing Knowledge and Language Proficiency with Equity
In December of 2022, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced trial testing of redesigned naturalization tests. The U.S. Committee on Immigration Reform recommended that these tests include a modified required standardized English-speaking portion and a civics test with updated content and formatting. The English-speaking portion of the test, supposedly useful for demonstrating an understanding of the English language, has questionable implications for people attempting to come to America. I believe increasing the difficulty of this standardized test would create greater barriers to entry and reinforce pre-existing discrimination and bias against people seeking United States citizenship who do not speak the English language.
The trial began in mid-January of this year with the goal of implementation by late 2024. While trials do not affect any current naturalization applications, the results will help determine whether or not changes to the naturalization test are enacted.
The naturalization test poses a considerable challenge to applicants seeking citizenship, with a prevalent understanding that a significant number of current American citizens might struggle to successfully pass it. According to attorney Ruby Robinson, who works at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, the main factor that deters individuals from applying for citizenship is test anxiety. Attorney Robinson said, “People who’ve lived here for 50 or 60 years can be really scared to take the test,” including people whose native language is English. Increasing the difficulty of an already difficult test will further this uncertainty.
The challenges posed by the naturalization test and the concerns around its difficulty are reflective of broader discussions about language expectations in the United States. During his 2016 campaign Donald Trump said, “This is a country where we speak English. It’s English. You have to speak English!” Throughout Trump’s campaign and subsequent presidency, hate speech and offensive comments made by Trump himself became more normalized and accepted. A researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center told BBC, “These reactions against people who speak Spanish are probably not new, but Donald Trump unleashed feelings that were not expressed publicly so often before.” Promoting policies that create more significant barriers to the naturalization process, prominent talking points in Trump’s campaign, can contribute to a more negative public perception of those seeking naturalization. During the Trump administration, the number of civic questions one had to answer was doubled. While the changes did not reduce the passage rate, the Biden administration quickly reversed those changes.
At the federal level, the United States does not formally recognize English as the official language. This deliberate omission stems from a fundamental aspect of American identity: the idea that America was founded on principles of immigration and diversity. Recognizing English as an official language would be antithetical to American principles, given the nation’s commitment to embracing and celebrating all cultures and languages. There have been several attempts to make English the official language on a federal level, but all of them failed. The most recent and ongoing attempt is North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer’s bill, the “English Language Utility Act,” introduced on March 30 2023. Making English the official language and the United States adding an English-speaking portion to the citizenship test harbor similar barriers for non-English speaking people pursuing American citizenship. The establishment of an official national language could perpetuate negative stereotypes and perceptions of people who do not speak English, while also making people interested in American citizenship less inclined to pursue it.
Commitments to immigration reform are frequently surface level and do not consistently create helpful, inclusive political reform. On February 2 2021, shortly after Joe Biden began his presidency, the executive branch released the “Executive Order on Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.” This statement claimed to “make the naturalization process more accessible to all eligible individuals, including through a potential reduction of the naturalization fee and restoration of the fee waiver process.” However, the application fee increased by $35 at the beginning of 2023, making the fee $760 USD. In comparison, our dual language neighbor Canada charges $467.05 USD which is approximately half of what the US charges for naturalization. The cost of taking the test is yet another barrier for people seeking naturalization and it is one that is disproportionate in comparison to other countries.
Having English as the United States’ official language would create a greater responsibility for immigrants to have a significant understanding of, and even fluency of, English. Developing an equitable naturalization process is essential in America. It is crucial because it grants individuals living in the United States the fundamental right to vote, empowering them to participate fully in the democratic processes of the country.