Immigrants wanting to become citizens soon will face a revised list of 100 possible quiz questions — including some that, without study, could stump many Americans.
If, for example, you don’t know when the Constitution was written or who wrote it, if you can’t name the president during the Great Depression and if you can’t recall the capital of your state, your chances of passing grow slimmer.
To the Bush administration, asking such questions is not a trivial pursuit. On the theory that citizenship should be deeply rooted in American values, the administration said, the new questions will force more study and less rote memorization. The aim, officials said, is that citizens be American in mind and soul.
The new quiz questions, announced Thursday and to take effect in October 2008, are designed to emphasize concepts more than the current ones do. Instead of being asked to identify the colors of the American flag, applicants will describe what the parts of the flag represent.
In Illinois, an immigrant advocacy group objected to the new test, saying it will require more difficult study from people already struggling with the language and culture.
“Our worst fears have been realized,” said Fred Tsao, policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Chicago. “We did not want this test to become more of a burden, and it has.”
Others argue people who don’t know the fundamentals of American values and basic U.S. history don’t merit citizenship.
“It’s a lot harder to pass a driver’s license test than to answer those questions,” said Matthew Streit, a spokesman for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. “It’s not like you can’t get the questions beforehand and study them for an hour and still pass.”
The revisions were developed after a pilot program in 10 cities in which 142 questions were randomly asked of more than 6,000 volunteers who were applying for citizenship. The pass rate was 92.4 percent — higher than the current average of 84 percent, U.S. officials said. Then the list was whittled down, with difficult questions either refined or thrown out.
From the list of 100 questions, applicants will be asked 10. They must answer six correctly to pass. To help applicants, the government will offer tutoring materials through social service agencies and volunteer groups.
“You really have to sit down and study,” said Alfonso Aguilar, head of the Office of Citizenship for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “This encourages civic learning and patriotism.”
Veronica Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, who will take the current test in two weeks, said she would not have a problem with the revised quiz.
“Either way, I would study,” said Rodriguez, who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 1. “But for others who have not been in the country as long, it could be harder.”
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etorriero@tribune.com
