Amid a Biden-era backlog and the recent rash of domestic terror attacks, a Trump administration official is pushing for a key overhaul in the immigration process as a “better gauge of readiness.”
Despite denials from the left, the open borders crisis has come at a great cost to the nation, both in economic terms, safety, and the well-being of American citizens. However, illegal immigration remains only part of the issue, a matter U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow hopes to address with changes to the naturalization exam.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Edlow, who’d previously served the same role in an acting capacity during President Donald Trump’s first administration, argued the current civics and English exam for naturalization fails to meet his expected requirement for assimilation.
“The test needs to reflect the letter and the spirit of what Congress intended,” he told Fox News Digital. “It’s important for people to understand English, our history, our government … and the way the test is written and executed right now doesn’t meet that bar.”
Prior to an October 2025 update, the civics portion of the test required 60% percent correct answers when asked 10 questions randomly chosen from a list of 100 possibilities. The English portion required the correct recitation and writing of a sentence in English.
These parameters remain for those who applied for naturalization before Oct. 20, 2025, while those on or after the date are expected to correctly answer 12 of 20 questions pulled from a list of 128.
Addressing other changes he hopes to see, Edlow said, “I want adjudicators to really be listening and talking throughout the interview. Switch up some of the wording … and see if the individuals are still able to comprehend the questions. That’s a better gauge of readiness.”
Recent suspected terror attacks attributed to alleged Islamism in the United States have included attacks at Virginia’s Old Dominion University, Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan, a bar in Austin, Texas, and would-be bombers in New York City.
Four jihadi attacks in US in last 2 weeks, and Dems just voted to keep DHS shutdown https://t.co/XHfmJVYb64 via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) March 13, 2026
Hardly isolated to concerns of violent extremism, Edlow addressed the impact immigration had on the job market as he told Fox News Digital, “Companies are going for the highest-skilled workers but paying them at the lowest wage level. That’s undercutting U.S. graduates, especially in STEM fields.”
The director offered an example of American workers being laid off, only to be made to train foreign replacements made available to employers through third-party firms.
“We want to make sure those brought over are truly commensurate with the roles they’re filling — and not part of a cost-cutting scheme,” he said amid plans to work with the Department of Labor to ensure records match actual wages and responsibilities.
He also expressed his aim to address changes to guidance on non-cash benefits made under then-President Joe Biden’s administration: “We need to look at the means-tested benefits being offered and ensure our adjudicators know what to look for to determine if someone would be a burden on U.S. taxpayers.”
Weeks after taking the role at USCIS, Edlow said, comparing his departure to his return, “We had about 450,000 cases that were pending on the asylum active docket. When I got back, there were over 1.5 million cases.”
Regarding the caseload, he told Fox News Digital, “Backlogs that continue to grow are nothing short of a national security threat to this country.”
“There may be short-term pain. But we will decrease the backlog at a steady clip while protecting the integrity and security of the system,” he added.
Meanwhile, the administration has also been working toward denaturalizing those who may have fraudulently obtained their U.S. citizenship, “especially under the previous administration.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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