Citizenship exam gets tougher

Washington Post/Houston Chronicle:

The Bush administration is considering proposals that would make it tougher for legal immigrants to gain U.S. citizenship.

The proposals being drafted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, could nearly double application fees, toughen the required English and history exams, and ask probing questions about an applicant's past, such as "Who is your current wife's ex-husband?"

In an interview Thursday, a USCIS spokesman said the contemplated changes are necessary to pay increased administrative costs and to standardize an application that is subjective and varies across the country.

But immigration rights advocates say the changes would amount to a second wall, a potential barrier against legal immigration that is as formidable as the newly authorized southern border fence is supposed to be against illegal migrants.

Changes in the citizenship application process are being contemplated amid a contentious debate over whether the federal government should undertake a comprehensive reform of immigration policy that includes establishing a guest worker program, or just build a barrier along the Mexican border and adopt a get-tough policy toward illegal immigrants and companies that employ them.

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The WaPo really blows it on describing the issues in the debate. The primary issue has always been about the rule of law when it comes to immigration. Either you are going to enforce the rule of law or you are going to change the law and avoid enforcement. The border barrier is about enforcing the law. That is a separate issue from what form immigration exams will take. Those who favor border enforcement first, believe that you will never solve the problem if you give incentives to break the law by giving away citizenship to those who break the law. As long as there is no significant consequence to breaking the law, people will keep on doing it.