They change the citizenship test: go back to the 2008 model 0:56
(CNN) -
The Biden administration is rolling back the controversial Trump-era citizenship or naturalization citizenship test, reverting to an earlier version of the test, according to a policy alert released Monday.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which administers the test, announced that it will revert to using a 2008 version. The agency had received thousands of comments on the test from the Trump administration, as well as the decree of President Joe Biden to restore faith in the legal immigration system.
In December, the Trump administration rolled out its revised civics test, which made changes to the test content, increased the number of questions for applicants to study, and updated the number of questions applicants had to answer correctly.
At the time, immigration experts warned that it could slow down the process and discourage people from seeking citizenship and legal immigration benefits.
The Trump-era test can "inadvertently" create potential barriers to the citizenship process, the Biden administration determined.
USCIS declined to elaborate on why the administration believes the 2020 test should be scrapped.
BuzzFeed News first reported that the Biden administration planned to ditch the Trump-era exam.
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Over the course of his presidency, Donald Trump tried to restrict legal immigration and tighten citizenship, causing the end of birthright citizenship and attempting to include a citizenship question on the census.
The naturalization test is a crucial step on an immigrant's path to U.S. citizenship, and can affect hundreds of thousands of immigrants seeking citizenship annually.
Multiple comments on the Trump-era test noted that there was little advance notice before its implementation, raising concerns about the limited time for study and preparation of training materials and resources, according to the USCIS policy alert.
The update will go into effect on March 1, and there will be a short period during which the agency can offer both versions of the test to accommodate applicants who were already studying for the Trump-era version.
USCIS, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, was at the center of several of the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies, including those that made it enormously difficult for migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. and the controversial immigration rule. "Public charge," which makes it more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they use public benefits.
Ken Cuccinelli, a former top Department of Homeland Security official in the Trump administration, brought the agency into a rare spotlight when he served as acting director of USCIS, working to change its name as an investigative agency instead. of one of benefits.
Cuccinelli touted the Trump administration's efforts to review the test.
"Updating, maintaining and improving a test that is current and relevant is our responsibility as an agency to help potential new citizens fully understand the meaning of American citizenship and the values that unite all Americans," Cuccinelli said in a statement. when the agency announced that it would review the naturalization test.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
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