The goal of the new immigration test is to make Americans, not just citizens who don't know how to fit in here. A new program helps non profit groups teach the newcomers. DP
By SARAH GARLAND, Staff Reporter of the Sun
nysun.com: A wave of new immigrants has prompted the federal immigration agency to initiate a new government-led assimilation project. A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization, projected that one in five residents will be foreign-born by 2050. In response, the chief of the Office of Citizenship at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Alfonso Aguilar, says it was necessary for the government to become more active about integrating the newcomers.
The project, which focuses on civic and political assimilation, not cultural, has been gearing up for several years, but it accelerated this month as immigration officials prepared to launch a new citizenship exam in October that they say is designed to be more meaningful that the current test. "We need to build an Americanization movement for the 21st century that recognizes what is different from 100 years ago," Mr. Aguilar said. "The political, that's where we have the common elements that bind us."
As a part of the assimilation effort, the government this month made available a new "citizenship tool-kit" for nonprofit groups that prepare immigrants for the citizenship test and is beginning to hold trainings on the test across the country for adult education teachers that work with immigrants.
Mr. Aguilar has also been touring cities to spread awareness about the new test and the government's new focus on integration.
"We don't just make them citizens, we make them feel like Americans," Mr. Aguilar told The New York Sun at his first stop in New York City as a part of the tour last Thursday.
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