Naturalizing Language

Over the past couple of weeks, in my humanities course, A Nation's Argument, we have been studying the events that led up to the ratification of the Bill of Rights. For us to gain a better understanding of the rights American citizens have under the U.S. Constitution, we looked at the first 15 amendments. We especially investigated the 13th amendment specifically, Article one which states, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." This amendment ties into what the discussions we had in class concerning the events that took place in the 1850s. As we moved forward into this unit, we also watched Ava DuVernay's documentary, 13th, to get an improved perception of the reality of the 13th amendment. Finally, we continued thinking about the rights American citizens have that are guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, and how these rights apply to immigrants. That is was we went to the Immigration Court (USCIS). My experience there inspired me to amend the U.S. Naturalization Exam. Below is my project.

The U.S. Naturalization Exam consists of 100 US civics questions. Out of the 100 questions, the interviewee is only to be tested on 10 random questions. The interviewee must orally answer at least 6 out of the 10 questions correctly to pass the exam. The answers may vary depending on the current status regarding questions like: "What is the name of the president now."

A list of questions a USCIS officer may ask the interviewee might look like this:

88. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States
89. What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?
90. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?

The questions above are the 3 out of 8 geography questions in the exam. I would have these questions abolished because they are not relevant or substantial. These questions do not serve anything that could benefit the applicant. Looking at this from the perspective of the federal Bureau of Naturalization, their argument for including these questions might have looked like this:

P1: Rivers and oceans surrounding the United States have historical significance.

P2: A United States citizen should know basic American geography  

C: A true United States citizen ought to know the large bodies of water in and surrounding the United States

MY AMENDMENT

My vision for a newly reformed citizenship process will look like this:

1. provide a translator for the preferred language of the applicant.

2. provide a list of the 10 questions that they will be tested ahead of time.

It is crucial to have a translator for the preferred language of the applicant because America is a melting pot of multilingual people. Anyone living in America has the freedom to speak any language, so it is only fair that they have that same freedom in this process. This right will not only allow them to have an opportunity to score higher, but it would also give them a sense of welcome. Having a translator would also eliminate the fear that to become an American citizen means giving up one's culture and one's language.

P1: Everyone living in the United States has the freedom to speak any language.

P2: US Naturalization applicant must have lived in the United States for at least 5 years before applying for an application for naturalization (N-400).

P3:  Section one of the 14th amendment states: "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

P4: The first amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech."

P5: The naturalization test takes place in offices across America.

Conclusion: Therefore, any applicant of the Naturalization test shall feel free to speak in any language they prefer. 

 Hudson, Dawn. "Vintage old fashioned retro illustration" 

The image above is a perfect metaphor for how the government likes to feed off of the poor. It is an example of how the United States government benefits from people's sufferings. We have seen this issue over centuries in this country with slavery and mass incarceration.  according to USCIS, "In the 1930s the INS moved to eliminate “trick” questions, such as “how high is the Bunker Hill Monument,” from the exam and worked to insure that questioning would establish the applicant’s attachment to the principles of the Constitution rather than the mere ability to memorize facts." This is however not the case. Although the INS believes that they have eliminated "trick" there are still questions that feel like they are trick questions like "What ocean is on the West Coast of the United States?"

My mother has taken the Naturalization test multiple times in the past and will be taking it again later this month. I translated my proposed amendment and my mother responded with the following: "I like your ideas for improving this exam. Having a translator and knowing what question they will be testing us ahead of time will better prepare me. It feels like they are a lot setting me up for failure by having me memorize 100 questions but only testing me on 10." (translated from Kirundi to English)

My fellow classmate read my amendment and said, "I agree with your amendment completely because the naturalization process makes it unjust and difficult for immigrants to gain citizenship. My uncle needed to provide a lot of documents but he didn't have them because he had to leave his country, Jordan, and didn't have it with him. It took my uncle two tires to pass the test because he didn't have the time to memories 100 civic questions." -Nissrine

While working on this project, I got a little heated because this project is one that hits too close to home. The naturalization process is a frustrating one as I have watched my mother study these questions for a decade and still not be able to pass because of a language barrier. I hope the naturalization process is reformed shortly to a process that is justifiable.

Works Cited:

“Constitute.” Constitute, www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992.

“Origins of the Naturalization Civics Test.” USCIS, 23 Sept. 2013, www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/featured-stories-uscis-history-office-and-library/origins-naturalization-civics-test.

“Questions and Answers about U.S. Citizenship.” USCIS, www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/learn-about-naturalization/questions-and-answers-about-us-citizenship.