Summary
The Trump administration plans to make the U.S. citizenship test harder, possibly adding an essay requirement to give officials more leeway in approving applicants. Officials also plan to apply stricter standards on "good moral character" for citizenship, reversing some policies from the Biden administration. USCIS is reverting to a previous version of the citizenship test and has issued new guidelines for English proficiency and moral character evaluations.
Key Facts
- The U.S. plans to make the citizenship test more difficult, potentially including an essay.
- Officials want more discretion in approving or rejecting citizenship applications.
- The administration is focusing on the standard of "good moral character" for applicants.
- Over 818,000 people became U.S. citizens in fiscal 2024, more than during Trump's first term.
- Joseph Edlow, USCIS director, believes the citizenship exam is currently too easy.
- USCIS has reverted to the 2020 version of the citizenship exam.
- New guidance aims to help officials in evaluating applications, but may lead to more legal challenges.
- Eric Welsh from Reeves Immigration Law Group warns this could lead to biased decisions.
