Wilkommen is no welcome

An editorial in Saturday's New York Times makes note of the stiffening requirements for obtaining US citizenship.

Background checks are needed, backlogs have increased, and the price of applying for citizenship is set to rise to more than $300 by the end of the month. ... But soon, in what seems to be piling on discouragement and stress for would-be citizens, there will be a revised test of whether applicants possess the knowledge deemed necessary to become an American.

Presently, the Times notes, the test consists of "10 or so questions on presidents, the powers of Congress and the colors of the flag, among other areas." The new test will include multiple choice questions

and will be part oral and part written; applicants will be asked to describe scenes shown in photographs. The stated goal of the Bureau [of Citizenship and Immigration Services], which has taken up the duties of the old Immigration and Naturalization Service as part of the Department of Homeland Security, is to make the test more meaningful.

Bull. What it will make it is more a test of proficiency in English and open the door wide to the same kind of arbitrary, subjective, outright discriminatory judgments that became notorious in the days of "literacy tests" required of those wanting to register to vote in the South. It's a backdoor way to make English the de facto "official language" of the US.

We have never had an official language and seem to have gotten along quite well without one. Despite that, various attempts to make English the official language of the US have been and are being made. They have made some gains in the individual states (one advocacy group says 27 states have some form of "official language" statute) but they have gone nowhere on the national level. So, as so often happens of late, what can't be done openly is done covertly, smiling all the while.

Personally, what I find "meaningful" is that the pressure to create an official language seems to rise and fall in tandem with sweaty-palm concerns about the US becoming more multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. More bluntly, it seems that the more Hispanic and Asiatic cultures become part of our nation, the more the cry to "preserve our heritage" and "keep us united" rise. Draw your own conclusion.

Footnote: The Times says a typical question on the current test might ask which amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to vote. (It's the seventh. I didn't know, either.) About 90% of applicants pass the exam. I wonder how many of those who most loudly screech about "preserving our heritage" would?