The article was about the view points of immigrants trying to apply for citizenship and the benefits of becoming a citizen in the United States. Citizenship rates have increased because of the Immigration Act that was enacted during the 1990's. Based on your race or ethnicity, the citizenship rate can be different. Central Americans, citizens living in southern North America, have the lowest citizenship rate and Southeast Asians have the highest. Today, immigrants, with green cards, struggle with deciding whether or not to apply for for citizenship. Some immigrants do not want to lose the rights of their country of origin, cannot not pay for the application fee, or they can't speak or read English (the citizenship test is all in English.) Others feel the need to do it because they are afraid of getting deported back to their country. These difficulties prevent immigrants from taking the test because it's too much of a struggle. The United States offers the right vote to those who are legal citizens. You are also allowed to sponsor other immigrants of your family. Lastly, you feel fully engaged in your society and have the power to make a difference. The path to citizenship is a very important topic because it's very beneficial to the immigrants themselves but also our country. Being a citizenship will take away all the restrictions that the immigrants have to live by in the United States.
Do you think that we should change the process to citizenship for immigrants? If yes, what are some changes we should have to make the process harder or easier? If no, explain your reasoning.
Personally, I don't think that they should change the process of citizenship for immigrants. For one, I think that the money aspect of becoming a citizen shows that the individual really does want to become a citizen of the United States and work hard for it. Also I think that it allows the citizenship to be beneficial to both the individual as well as the United States. For the idea of having to understand English to take the test is also something completely necessary. Even though I do the United States does not have an official language by law, I think that most Americans have set that idea in place. Almost everyone in the country speaks English, so understanding it must be a requirement. Also I think that learning the language also shows the determination of become a citizen of the United States of America.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is nothing wrong with the citizenship test. I think that if anything it should include a more in depth oral test because I think that if you live here in America you should be able to communicate with the people that are from here, like here still and speak the native language! For us native speakers, there should be no person that doesnt understand us, in my opinion. About the rest of the process of becoming a true citizen, I think that it should stay the same. If you want it bad enough then you will do it, but if your just trying to become a citizen for no real reason, then you should have a reason to stop(too expensive, not good enough speaker, etc.). This is just my opinion though.
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