Texas Considering Citizenship Test as High School Requirement

The state of Texas has been leading the way in cracking down on illegal immigration, as it has one of the nation’s largest illegal immigrant populations, more than 1.6 million people.

Texas has been so strong in combating illegal immigration that its governor, Greg Abbott, signed a bill banning sanctuary cities. Now the Texas legislature is doing more, this time targeting citizens of their own state.

In order to become a citizen of the United States, immigrants must pass a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services test, and a Texas bill, which just passed the House, would require Texas public high school students to take the very same test in order to graduate.

The bill, House Bill 1776, would “would replace a U.S. history course that students take at the end of a semester with a test that immigrants take to get their U.S. citizenship. But, unlike the real civics test, the test for students would be multiple choice.”

From KHOU:

On Wednesday, the Texas House tentatively approved the bill. Supporters say that the bill’s goal is to ensure that students are proficient in U.S. history. KENS 5 quizzed a handful of adults to see how they fared. We pulled 10 questions from a U.S. Customs and Immigration Services practice exam. Among the questions: Who would serve as president if the current president and vice president could longer serve? Who was president during World War I?

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requires immigrants to correctly answer 6 out of 10 questions from the list of 100 questions in English.

If immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens have to answer basic questions about our country, then it is not an outrageous thing to ask students to do the same.

If high school students cannot answer basic questions about this country, then they are likely not fit to graduate high school, and they’re certainly not qualified to vote.

We should hold our own citizens to the same, if not higher, standards than those of individuals seeking to join our great country.

Do you support Texas’ plan to require high school students pass a citizenship test in order to graduate? Share your thoughts below! 

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