A close look at the path to citizenship
Donald Trump has laid out an immigration policy that includes a plan to end the principle that babies born in the US automatically become citizens. But what are the origins of that principle and the practicality and legality of the Republican presidential candidate’s plan?
The US citizenship has an amazingly high pass rate — but it also has a number of critics. They argue the questions, frankly, are bad. And the test doesn’t encourage immigrants to become better citizens, but rather to memorize facts they can write on the test.
What makes the issue of citizenship so divisive? What does the “path to citizenship” look like now and what obstacles already exist for immigrants? What impact might the different plans have on this country? Join an online discussion.
At some level, all countries push new citizens to integrate and that’s where civics and language citizenship tests come in. But when you take a longer look at how citizenship exams are developed worldwide, you realize they can have less to do with methodology than promoting a strict cultural identity.