Citizenship test changeover date nears

Patricia Nazario/KPCC
Victory Huey teaches the morning Citizenship Class at Evans Adult School in downtown Los Angeles near Chinatown. Eighty immigrants from all over the world are enrolled in the class. Maintaining eye-contact during the verbal interview is a point Huey covers during the preparation process.
Oct. 29, 2009 | Patricia Nazario | KPCC

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The civics test for immigrants who hope to become American citizens changes for the first time in decades. Federal officials adopted a multiple-choice-type exam where a question could have more than one correct answer.

Victor Huey takes charge at the front of the citizenship class at Evans Adult School in downtown Los Angeles. He appears relaxed in beige khakis and a white dress shirt, but he's unforgiving with students who are studying to take the naturalization exam.

Patricia Nazario/KPCC
Victory Huey role-plays with student Marina Kinney during a citizenship class at Evans Adult School downtown Los Angeles.

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“Raise your hand. Raise your right hand," says Victory Huey. “You must look at the officer in the eyes. That could be a stark difference from interaction in your home country.”

Huey prepares his students to stand face-to-face with the person who holds the power over their oral and written attempts to become American citizens. Eighty students from all over the world are enrolled in Victor Huey’s citizenship course – El Salvador, Mexico, and Japan. Huey, himself a Chinese-born American, role-plays an immigration officer and quizzes a student on the 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Can you tell me what a terrorist is?" asked Huey.

"Bad people on September 11th attack the United States," said Marina Kinney.

“Okay. Very good!" he said as he led the room in a round of applause.

Huey expects every student to achieve that level of comprehension. They have to, he says, if they want to pass the new test. The old one gave single answers and people would rote memorize answers like:

What are the colors of the American flag?

How many stars does the flag have and what color are the stars?

The new test tries to encompass what it means to be an American citizen and includes some geography.

“So, a question could have more than one answer, and the officer is able to accept more than one answer to a question," says Mariana Gitomer. She's a spokeswoman for the federal office of Citizenship and Immigration Services’ L.A. office.

Immigration officials introduced a fee increase and the new civics test in Oct. 2008. But they gave immigrants a one-year grace period. During that year, enrollment skyrocketed at Evans Adult School, which is blocks away from Chinatown.

“We changed some classes," says school principal Danette Roe. "We opened up more classes.”

Danette Roe says many immigrants worried about the new test – at first. They thought it was going to be harder. But as people passed it and returned to class to share their experience, the students' confidence level grew.

Victor Huey says more importantly, they realize they don’t have to speak perfect English to become United States citizens. They just have to study differently for a test that demands more contextualization than memorization.

Leticia Acct. Medina
2 weeks, 2 days ago

I heard that the USCIS is considering raising the fees again, from $675 - is that true, Patricia? I couldn't find time to go to a class so I studied online with www.CitizenshipCoach.com. Very good, highly recommended if you can't find a class in your city or can't drive... There are free citizenship test classes online, too. I'm ready for my test next week!!!!

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