US will ‘overhaul’ the citizenship test

DaisyDay said:

"American citizenship is the most sacred citizenship in the world ..."
Citizenship is not a religion or a sacrament.

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Quite honestly, if being a citizen of a country isn't important to someone, then why bother being one? Rosie O'Donnell had gone to Ireland and if she becomes a citizen there, then I have more respect for her than those who treat being a US citizen with scorn and yet remain here. From the very start, being a US Citizen was seen in the US as being the best thing since sliced bread, even though sliced bread wasn't invented yet. It was the idea of America as a shining light on a hill, a concept that gets sneered at today, but goes back to 18th Century America.

seeking.IAM said:

It rather all depends on how they (re)define our values, doesn't it?

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The ones that preserve our Purity of Essence and our Precious Bodily Fluids!

Tuur said:

Assimilation is becoming a part of the culture. No more,; no less

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How would you draft the question to test for assimilation on a citizenship test?

Test question #1.... Who really won the 2020 election?

Oompa Loompa said:

I doubt if Ilhan Omar could pass it.

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She’s already a citizen, though.

Pommer said:

She’s already a citizen, though.

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So. Given the current state of our public educational system, I bet most high school graduates couldn't pass it either.

essentialsaltes said:

"American citizenship is the most sacred citizenship in the world

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Oh my that made me laugh and gag at the same time.

Tuur said:

"Whatever we were before, we are Americans now."

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What is an American, and why should anyone have to subscribe to your (or anyone else's) interpretation of what an American should be?

seeking.IAM said:

How would you draft the question to test for assimilation on a citizenship test?

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The test is a desire for assimilation. It would be be based on civics and history. Pretty much what you'll find right here:

2025 USA Citizenship Test Cheat Sheet. 99% Pass Rate. Practice Test No. 1

Check it out. Then wonder how many natural born citizens could pass.

GoldenBoy89 said:

What is an American, and why should anyone have to subscribe to your (or anyone else's) interpretation of what an American should be?

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An American pretty much accepts and agrees with the ideals behind the founding of the US and it's form of government. This is going to sound like a spoof, but listening to naturalized citizens, I get the feeling that, deep down, they were Americans before they even came here.

Wanting naturalized citizens to actually love this country before becoming part of it is pretty much self-evident. Would you want to naturalize citizens who hate the US and its form of government?

Oompa Loompa said:

So. Given the current state of our public educational system, I bet most high school graduates couldn't pass it either.

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This. Check out the link above to the citizenship practice test.

Pommer said:

She’s already a citizen, though.

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Pedantic statement ahead: She was born in Somalia and became a naturalized US citizen. That means she's already passed the test. Just a clarification: saying she's already a citizen could imply she's a US citizen by birth.

Tuur said:

An American pretty much accepts and agrees with the ideals behind the founding of the US and it's form of government. This is going to sound like a spoof, but listening to naturalized citizens, I get the feeling that, deep down, they were Americans before they even came here.

Wanting naturalized citizens to actually love this country before becoming part of it is pretty much self-evident. Would you want to naturalize citizens who hate the US and its form of government?

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I don’t care if people love or hate the country. Pay your taxes and follow the laws is all that’s required.

Tuur said:

Assimilation is becoming a part of the culture. No more,; no less. Assimilation was once the goals of immigrants, the idea of becoming an American. Assimilation has been treated as a dirty thing for decades now, but is necessary if you are a part of society. It's a sense of "Whatever we were before, we are Americans now."

As to religious test because of the word "sacred," I'll simply point out that the Democrats have used abortion on demand as a political test for decades, with a fervor usually found among religious faithful for the tenets of their religion. Do we call that a religious test, too?

(This post is going to be deleted, isn't it?)

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Yes, assimilation is the absorbtion of minorities into the broader culture. My point though is what is the boader culture? In America that varies greatly as I tried to show by the examples of dance or the lack of assimilation by many U.S. politicians who are far from assimulation because their status and wealth have insulated them from mainstream Americana.

You also are right on the "religious test" Some democrats push secularism, which is basically a religion of no religion. There no God, no religion policies typically do include abortion on demand. As there is no religious test to gaining a Federal office, there can be "religious tests" for those seeking entry into a political party. The new statement of goals seems to signal that the new citizenship requirements may have some impediments for some who have not adopted a more MAGA view of mainstream culture. In the broader sense, many evangelicals have embraced the desire to change America into a more religious state. I am not necessarily against that but it should be voluntarily and not mandatory.

The fear with this new directive is that Maga's real intent is to have a test that will exclude more future democrats. Meanwhile, the democrats desire to incorporate policies making citizenship easier. I personally don't like the politics involved with either party when it comes to immigrants. The tension though exists because immigrants are typically considered to be mostly democrats. Trump however got more Hispanic vote than previous Repblicans. Rather than shun Hispanics, the GOP should try to court them more so that even new citizens are more attracted to the GOP. Sadly, many white MAGA supporters and even candidates are seen as pushing back on all other races and especially pushing back on any ideas of amnesty or expanded legal immigration.

The reality is that we are seeing the last gasp of white hegemony in the USA and many maga followers actively or subconsiously are worried that their way of life will be threatened. It is interesting because though maga parades as helping the working class more than the democrats, their actions with tariffs and other tax policies say otherwise. This disconnect likely will become evident during Trump's term and the movement will falter. I will go even farther and say that any movement based on the love of money, on mercantilist ideas in trade and foreign policy will not prosper. IMO the Christian path going forward for the USA would be more compassionate to the poor, more foreign friendly, while at the same time embracies a strategy that reduces citizen's dependency on government.

essentialsaltes said:

This sacredest honor and Sen. Schmitt's speech on What is an American are both redolent of precious bodily fluids that must not be adulterated or diluted.

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In light of all that I've seen on the so-called "Learning Channel" of late, I'd say that consideration of unadulterated bodily fluids, and how to best manage them in the overall realm of social discourse, and intercourse, should be a part of "how" any upstanding U.S. citizen assimilates.

We've all been denatured by the Sexual and Social and Experimental Revolution for the last several decades in the U.S.

But it's time for that old Hefnerian and Neo-Marxian style social Philosophy to stop. Cold.

Addendum: And I think that a few practical considerations expressed here in the brief video below by Christopher Hitchens' brother, Peter, are also useful in the needed reforms in the U.S. going forward:

Oompa Loompa said:

I doubt if Ilhan Omar could pass it.

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I doubt 70% of US citizens could pass a basic civics test.

Sample question:

Which branch of the federal government allocates government revenue?
a. Judicial
b. Legislative
c. Executive

Tuur said:

Just a clarification: saying she's already a citizen could imply she's a US citizen by birth.

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No, it couldn't. Saying that someone is "already" something just means that they are currently in that state (with the implication that they do not need to make any further effort to reach it). It carries no implication of past state (unless used in a past tense). Ex: "I'm already there." "They're already on their way." "He's already drunk." "Stop, stop, she's already dead!"

"She has always been a citizen." would imply that she was a citizen by birth, but that's not what was said.

Tuur said:

Quite honestly, if being a citizen of a country isn't important to someone, then why bother being one? Rosie O'Donnell had gone to Ireland and if she becomes a citizen there, then I have more respect for her than those who treat being a US citizen with scorn and yet remain here. From the very start, being a US Citizen was seen in the US as being the best thing since sliced bread, even though sliced bread wasn't invented yet. It was the idea of America as a shining light on a hill, a concept that gets sneered at today, but goes back to 18th Century America.

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Important is one thing, sacred is another.