Literacy tests for immigrants

DEFINITION: Reading and writing fluency tests administered to immigrants seeking to attain United States (US) citizenship

SIGNIFICANCE: Literacy tests have been a focal point of the controversy between those requiring a minimum standard of educational competence for attaining American citizenship and those decrying what they view as arbitrary restrictiveness. Literacy tests have been a key component of proposed immigration laws and a reason cited for presidential vetoes of legislation that would have instituted them.

Literacy tests, as a decision-making barometer, have a rich historical heritage dating back to their role during the Middle Ages as part of the process to extend “benefit of clergy” status to wayward priests. This practice, which afforded preferential treatment in a separate ecclesiastic system of justice to priests who could successfully read the “neck verse” from Psalms, was abolished in the US in 1827. However, the importance of literacy as a gateway to success in mainstream American life for both criminal-offender and law-abiding populations has persisted into the twenty-first century.

The Immigration Act of 1917, a landmark in US immigration history, was the first significant piece of federal legislation to include a literacy test. Earlier attempts to include such tests were vetoed by Presidents Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson in 1897, 1913, and 1915, respectively. The 1897 bill that Cleveland vetoed would have required reading and writing tests, while the two later bills included tests for reading only. The wording of the 1917 law, which was eventually passed, precluded admission into the US for those who were physically able to read but did not have the requisite skills to read English or another language, including Hebrew or Yiddish. The proposed test comprised thirty to forty commonly used words, and examinees were allowed to choose their preferred language or dialect. Although the law did not limit the number of immigrants per year or national quotas, it was clearly designed to lower immigration rates, particularly from countries with high levels of illiteracy.

The attitude of President Woodrow Wilson when he vetoed the proposed 1917 legislation restricting immigration is particularly instructive (his veto was ultimately overridden, resulting in the passage of the law). Although he had been accused of holding biases against certain minority groups who he felt could not assimilate into a homogenous American middle class, Wilson strongly protested the inclusion of a literacy test. He saw it as a measure of prior educational opportunity, which could result in rejecting citizenship applications from those with limited educational backgrounds. Their character and motivations would nonetheless render them highly desirable additions to an American middle-class “melting pot” characterized by hard work, dedication to common goals, and ultimate achievement.

Since the early twentieth century, debate about how literacy tests would affect immigration law and policy has continued unabated, underscoring the enduring relevance of this issue. Empirical evidence has shown a strong link between fluency in English reading and later vocational success. An attempt initiated in 2001 by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to revise the naturalization tests was harshly criticized by a committee under the auspices of the National Research Council. The basis of these criticisms was both methodological and substantive, including the lack of a clearly stated rationale for the literacy tests and the process used to develop their content. A new naturalization test was completed for all applicants in 2008. It included units on civics and English speaking, reading, and writing. 

As the twenty-first century progressed, immigration remained a topic of vigorous debate in political and public discourse. Economic, social, and political concerns have led to much argument regarding immigrants in the US. However, even the most fervent opponents of immigration have not argued for the reinstatement of literacy tests during the naturalization process. The naturalization test remains the same as the one developed in 2008 and primarily contains English language and civics tests. It assesses basic English language skills, and applicants are also quizzed on their knowledge of US history and government. An amended version of the naturalization tests was introduced in December 2020, but the former was restored in March 2021 due to policy changes. 

Bibliography

Boissoneault, Lorraine. "Literacy Tests and Asian Exclusion Were the Hallmarks of the 1917 Immigration Act." Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Feb. 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-america-grappled-immigration-100-years-ago-180962058. Accessed 2 Sept. 2024.

Elliott, Stuart, Naomi Chudowsky, Barbara Plake, and Lorraine McDonnell. "Using the Standards to Evaluate the Redesign of the U.S. Naturalization Tests: Lessons for the Measurement Community." Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, vol. 25, no. 1, fall 2006, pp. 22-26.

McSeveney, Sam. "Immigrants, the Literacy Test, and Quotas: Selected American History College Textbooks’ Coverage of the Congressional Restriction of European Immigration, 1917-1929." The History Teacher, vol. 21, no. 1, 1987, pp. 41-51.

"The Naturalization Interview and Test." USCIS, 25 Aug. 2023, www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learn-about-citizenship/the-naturalization-interview-and-test. Accessed 2 Sept. 2024.

Vaught, Hans. "Division and Reunion: Woodrow Wilson, Immigration, and the Myth of American Unity." Journal of American Ethnic History, vol. 13, no. 3, 1994, pp. 24-50.