In an interview with Fox News Digital, Edlow said the test, in its current form, does not adhere to what Congress initially intended when it set out to create a test to ensure that legal immigrants seeking naturalized American citizenship would fully assimilate into the nation’s language, culture, and values.
“I think the test needs to reflect the letter and the spirit of what Congress intended when they passed the statute in the first place,” Edlow said:
It’s important for people to understand English, it’s important for people to understand our history and our government. The way the test is written right now and the way it is executed right now, it’s just a little too easy. [Emphasis added]
It’s not so much that the questions right now aren’t up to par; it’s that there aren’t enough of them for people to really get a sense of who we are as a country and as citizens. New citizens are coming in. It’s the most sacred right that someone has — to become a U.S. citizen. And ultimately, for these individuals to memorize 90 to 100 questions, is just insufficient to pass and you really only have to answer six. [Emphasis added]
Likewise, Edlow said it’s critical that the citizenship test stay in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order that makes English the official language of the U.S., calling the nation’s shared language a vital “part of the assimilation of this country” — not to be downplayed.
“We have a solemn duty as set by Congress and Congress made it very clear that being able to converse in English and read in English is a part of this, an imperative part of this … the president has issued an executive order making English the official language and we want to make sure we are complying with that executive order,” Edlow told Fox News Digital.
As the test currently stands, legal immigrants seeking to naturalize do not necessarily have to read, write, or speak English. Instead, they can simply memorize questions and answers in the hopes of passing the test through pure memorization.
In 2017, for instance, a Southern California woman bragged about being able to pass the citizenship test despite not knowing any English.
“I didn’t think that I would be able to accomplish this, but I did it,” the woman said.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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