Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Kamala Harris sparred while fending off attacks from fellow candidates on health care and criminal justice reform.
Also see:
VOANews: Rivals Go After Biden in Democratic Debate
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was center-stage for Wednesday's Democratic presidential debate, and Biden often found himself under attack by several of his nine rivals on stage. But Biden was quick to counter-attack in what was a free-wheeling debate and also made an impassioned case that he is the Democrat best positioned to defeat President Donald Trump next year. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more on the second night of the second round of Democratic debates.
Today we will continue our series New Series: U.S. Citizenship and the U.S. Census 2020
Every 10 years, the federal government is required to count all residents in the United States, citizens and noncitizens alike, through a national census. The next national census is in April 2020. The information is used to make sure everyone is equally represented in our political system and that government resources are allocated fairly. It is also used to make important decisions about community programs and services, like where to build homes and parks, establish public transit routes, build new roads and offer language access services.
Participating in the Census is a civic responsibility for citizens and non-citizens similar to paying taxes and educating ourselves and our children. In certain situations, people can refuse to pay taxes
or send their children to school, but they cannot ignore what is happening in the community. They must learn the facts, and then make their decisions accordingly.
Today I will interview Aparna Ramakrishnan from the SMC Census Team about their Census Ambassador program. Contact the Census team at
400 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 363-1800
SMC_Census@smcgov.org
@SMC_CommAffairs
Next Monday, I will post the podcast that I recorded at the San Mateo Adult School with the Census Ambassadors. And over the next several weeks, I will be chopping up both of these into smaller bits, and posting the subtitled videos to the uscitizenpod YouTube channel. Let's get started!
"I would say that to not vote is like being not visible," said Usha Sabapathy at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Naturalization Ceremony last week. The Registrar of Voters had the pleasure of talking to Usha, Anita, Isabel and some of our other newest US citizens! It was incredible to witness how excited and patriotic they were before, during and after the ceremony. Afterwards they took the time to make sure they registered to vote and let the world know the importance of voting -- watch them in the video! We thank everyone who stopped by to register, and for reminding everyone else why we should vote.
The Mayor of Milpitas, Richard Tran, stopped by the Milpitas Adult School Open House and Community Fair. While he was there, he popped by the U.S. Citizenship class and reviewed an easy version of the first part of the USCIS N-400 Application for Naturalization. He also spoke briefly in Vietnamese and English about his family and how his grandmother studied for and PASSED her Citizenship test! Chúc mừng!
For more info about Mayor Rich Tran and the City of Milpitas, CA, visit: www.ci.milpitas.ca.gov
The border between the U.S. and Mexico has long been marked by barriers. But they weren’t always about deterring immigration. Here’s how the modern border came to be, starting with the year 1848.
POP QUIZ
USCIS 100:72. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s. USCIS 100:78. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.* USCIS 100:79. Who was President during World War I? USCIS 100:80. Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II? USCIS 100: 93. Name one state that borders Mexico.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller told members of Congress Wednesday that his probe into Russian interference in the last presidential election did not exonerate U.S. President Donald Trump of allegedly trying to thwart the investigation. As Mike O'Sullivan reports, Mueller's comments before two congressional committees drew very different responses from Republicans and Democrats.
U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who has been the target of some of President Donald Trump's fiercest attacks, has called on supporters to confront racism and false accusations while at the same time remain focused on defeating Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Omar spoke to Muslim American democratic activists Tuesday as the president continued his attacks against Omar and three other Democratic congresswomen of color. More from VOA's Brian Padden.
Seventy-six new U.S. citizens took an oath of allegiance during a naturalization ceremony aboard the USS Hornet in Alameda Tuesday. Jessica Flores reports. (7/3/18)
This is Saleha's second's practice interview. When she first came to our school, Saleha was in the ESL 1 class. She studied hard and spoke more English at work. After 6 months, her English skills improved so much that she was able to transfer into our Citizenship class. She is so happy to study with her son and he is proud that his mother has accomplished so much!
Watch practice Citizenship interview from MST Saleha Khatun and her son, Kazi
In this podcast, I read, comment and summarize the latest USCIS memo about updates to the USCIS Civics test. Summary:
1. USCIS has announced that they will be updating the #Civics (100s) portion of the Citizenship test. 2. This update will be implemented in December 2020 or early 2021. 3. There has been no further updates to the current N-400 Application for Naturalization.
Watch for upcoming discussions between US government agencies, adult educators, community-based organization, and stakeholders, https://lincs.ed.gov/
WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is revising the current naturalization test with improvements to ensure it continues to serve as an accurate measure of a naturalization applicant’s civics knowledge and that it reflects best practices in adult education assessments. The goal is to create a meaningful, uniform, and efficient test that will assess applicants’ knowledge and understanding of U.S. history, government and values.
This spring, the former USCIS director signed the Revision of the Naturalization Civics Test Memorandum (PDF, 202 KB). This memorandum announces the revision of the naturalization test and formalizes a decennial revision schedule of the naturalization test based on adult education best practices.
“Granting U. S. citizenship is the highest honor our nation bestows,” said USCIS Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli. “Updating, maintaining, and improving a test that is current and relevant is our responsibility as an agency in order to help potential new citizens fully understand the meaning of U.S. citizenship and the values that unite all Americans.”
In December 2018, USCIS formed a naturalization test revision working group with members from across the agency. The working group has been reviewing and updating the naturalization test questions. The working group will also assess potential changes to the speaking portion of the test. USCIS is soliciting the input of experts in the field of adult education to ensure that this process is fair and transparent. After careful analysis of the pilot, and thorough officer training, USCIS will set an implementation date in December 2020 or early 2021.
Section 312 of the Immigration and Nationality Act outlines the English and civics requirements for naturalization. By law, candidates for naturalization must have “…an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language…” and “…knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States...” This test revision will comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements, and USCIS will pilot it this fall.
In Fiscal Year 2018, USCIS naturalized nearly 757,000 people, a five-year high in new oaths of citizenship. The naturalization test revision is a key part of preparing legal immigrants to fully exercise their rights and meet their responsibilities.
For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and LinkedIn (/uscis).
Also see
USCIS Revision of the Naturalization Test (May 3, 2019)
After taking mankind's first steps on the moon, the three American astronauts departed for Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, where a Navy helicopter helped return them to a hero's welcome, July 24, 1969.
An image of the Apollo 11 rocket was projected onto the Washington Monument, Tuesday, July 16, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its launch into space. The Saturn V rocket left the Kennedy Space Station in Florida, July 16, 1969, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Four days later, Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the Moon's surface. Events are being held around the world to celebrate the anniversary, which coincided with a partial lunar eclipse.
It's been 50 years since the U.S. launched Apollo 11, the first mission to land men on the moon.
On the morning of July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on board a Saturn V rocket.
Around 12 minutes later, the crew were in orbit around Earth. Three days later, they were orbiting the moon.
The Eagle landed in the Sea of Tranquility.
With more than half a billion people watching on television, Armstrong planted the first human foot on another world.
Aldrin joined Armstrong shortly. They spent the next two and a half hours collecting samples and taking photographs.
They left behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on one of Eagle's legs.
U.S. President Donald Trump dropped efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census and will get the information on people residing in the United States through other federal agencies. Speaking outside the White House Thursday, Trump blamed Democrats and "unfriendly" courts for creating obstacles to what he called a legitimate question. Opponents say the question would give Republicans more seats in the House of Representatives and other advantages. VOA's Zlatica Hoke has more.
Norman Rockwell Museum partners with the Berkshire Immigrant Center, the Berkshire Community College Adult Learning Program, and the Literacy Network of South Berkshire to host their annual United States Citizenship Naturalization Ceremony on Friday, June 14, 2019.
Now in its eighth year at the Museum, the ceremony celebrates residents of Western Massachusetts who have immigrated to the United States from around the world.
The special event will give members of the community the opportunity to welcome 20 fellow residents from 15 different countries as they are sworn-in as new naturalized citizens of our country. This year, due to increased interest and need, the Museum and the Berkshire Immigrant Center will host a second ceremony on September 20 to welcome the next group of new U.S. citizens.
This past week, people closely followed the news about the 2020 Census. They wanted to know if the 2020 Census would include a Citizenship Question. The answer to this question seemed to change every hour.
President Trump wanted to have a Citizenship Question on the 2020 Census. He said that the Citizenship Question would protect voting rights.
The federal courts disagreed that the Citizenship Question would protect voting rights. The courts reviewed what the Constitution said about the Census, state representation, and voting rights. Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution says that Congress must count all people living in the United States every 10 years. The number of a state's representatives is based on the number of people--not citizens--who live in the state. If some people are not counted, states would lose members in the House of Representatives, plus government money for public services.
Also, many people oppose the Citizenship Question on the 2020 Census. They think that every person must be counted in the 2020 Census. They contacted their Senators and Representatives by phone, email, or Twitter. Some people said that they would not answer the Citizenship Question because they are not legal residents or live with people who are undocumented. There are afraid of being deported.
On Thursday, July 11, 2019, President Trump that the 2020 Census will not have the Citizenship Question BUT he issued an executive order for federal agencies to collect and share people's citizenship information. Trump said that the Citizenship information will show us how immigration changes America. The citizenship information will help us make stronger immigration laws and give public services. Trump's executive order wants states to draw voting districts based on number of eligible voters (citizens) instead of total number of people (citizens, legal residents, and undocumented), which many people say will give more power to Republicans & Non-Hispanic Whites voters and may take away the voting power of Democrats, Hispanic, African-American, and other minority voters.
While people are still taking about what Trump's executive order, communities are preparing for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids this weekend. All undocumented immigrants can be arrested and deported, not just immigrants who have committed crimes. Sometimes, U.S. citizens are arrested during ICE raids.
Remember, NEVER LIE ABOUT YOUR IMMIGRATION STATUS!
All people--citizens and non-citizens--have rights under the US Constitution.
DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR if an immigration agent is knocking on the door.
DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS from an immigration agent if they try to talk to you. You have the right to remain silent.
DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING without first speaking to a lawyer. You have the right to speak with a lawyer.
If you are outside of your home, ask the agent if you are free to leave and if they say yes, leave calmly.
Listen to this podcast to find the answer to the following five questions:
1. Why do some states have more Representatives than other states? 2. What does the judicial branch do? 3. There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote. Describe one of them. 4. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy? 5. What are the two major political parties in the United States?* 6. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?
No Citizenship Question on the 2020 Census BUT.... President Donald Trump announces future action ordering data on citizenship to be collected by means other than the census.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he is issuing an executive order for the Commerce Department to obtain citizenship data. But he is abandoning trying to add a controversial question on citizenship in the country's once-a-decade census next year. (read more)
MORE NEWS
source: Hansi Lo Wong
President Trump and AG William Barr say that "as a practical matter" the question cannot be added to #2020Census.
President Trump's new executive order directs the Commerce Secretary to "consider initiating any administrative process necessary" to add a #CitizenshipQuestion to forms for the 2030 census👇
The 1st reason for citizenship information Trump's executive order cites is "to help us understand the effects of immigration on our country & to inform policymakers considering basic decisions about immigration policy"
The 2nd reason for citizenship information Trump's executive order cites is to be able to "evaluate the potential effects of proposals to alter the eligibility rules for public benefits" in a way that ensures immigrants don't receive public benefits they're not eligible for👇
The 3rd reason for citizenship information Trump's executive order cites is to create a "more reliable" count of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S.
The 4th reason for citizenship info Trump's EO cites is to allow states to draw voting districts based on number of eligible voters instead of total number of residents, which GOP strategist Thomas Hofeller concluded would be "advantageous to Republicans & Non-Hispanic Whites"
U.S. President Donald Trump is making a last-ditch push to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census, despite a Supreme Court ruling against it last month and criticism by some states and civil liberties groups that the question is meant to deter immigrants from participating and help Republicans gain seats in the U.S. Congress. (read more)
Mother Jones journalist Ari Berman says recent Supreme Court decisions on redistricting and the 2020 census citizenship question will help determine which party is in power in the next decade.
"Since the 2010 elections, 24 states have implemented new restrictions on voting. Alabama now requires a photo ID to cast a ballot. Other states such as Ohio and Georgia have enacted "use it or lose it" laws, which strike voters from registration rolls if they have not participated in an election within a prescribed period of time. Mother Jones journalist Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot, says that many of the restrictions are part of a broader Republican strategy to tighten access to the ballot — an effort that was bolstered in 2013 by the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder ruling. "[That] decision," Berman explains, "said that those states with the longest histories of discrimination no longer had to approve their voting changes with the federal government."
Held in the Rotunda of the National Archives and Records Administration
Special guests: Vice President Mike Pence,
Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao
and acting Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli
uscitizenpod: Kazi Sabbir Ahmed's Third Practice U.S. Citizenship Interview TURN UP THE VOLUME! Sorry, I recorded this video with a different device and the audio was set too low. I will add closed caption in a couple of hours. This is still a good interview--Kazi passed his interview the next day, July 8, 2019. Watch Kazi's other interviews Kazi’s Second Practice Citizenship Interviewhttps://youtu.be/HHPiosjLdBMMilpitas Adult School Open House Citizenship Interview 2 (Kazi's First Interview) https://youtu.be/tSWVYI6cO3sMST Saleha Khatun’s First Practice Citizenship Interview (Kazi's Mom) https://youtu.be/rasawhtJKVc
We will first read about Q99 from the USCIS M638 quick civics lesson. Then we will discuss the Declaration of Independence, the Compromise of 1850, and abolitionist Fredrick Douglass. Then we will listen to a short reading from Fredrick Douglass speech: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro.” Note that Negro was a common term for Black or African-Americans, but it is not often used today. Let's get started.
I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelly to which he is the constant victim.
To him, your celebration is a sham;
your boasted liberty, an unholy license;
your national greatness, swelling vanity;
your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless;
your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence;
your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery;
your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings,
with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast,
fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages...
Listen to and read text from The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro, written by abolitionist and former slave: Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass presented this speech on July 5, 1852 in Rochester, NY. This speech concludes with a poem, a peace prayer, written by William Lloyd Garrison
Watch actor Danny Glover read abolitionist Frederick Douglass's "Fourth of July Speech, 1852" on October 5, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Part of a reading from Voices of a People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove.)
uscitizenpod: US Citizenship Podcast Independence Day Quiz (video) Celebrate Independence Day with uscitizenpod. Here is a quiz based on USCIS 100:08, 09, 61, 62, 63, 64, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100.
SI.edu/USCIS: Preparing for the Oath: U.S. History and Civics for Citizenship This web resource provides online videos and activities on the 100 civics questions from the naturalization test and highlights museum objects from the Smithsonian Institution. Visit the “Establishing Independence” and “Symbols and Holidays” themes for information on Independence Day.
USCIS helps you prepare for the civics test by posting a new paylist: one video for each civics and history question asked by different examiners. For Independence Day, check out 100:08, 09, 61, 62, 63, 64, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100. Good job, USCIS! USCIS: Lesson Plans and Activities Visit this page to find lesson plans, student handouts, and answer keys on a variety of topics, including Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence (Beginning Level), American Symbols and Celebrations (Beginning and Intermediate Levels), Establishing Independence (Intermediate Level). USCIS: Independence Day 2015 - Declaration of Independence U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (uscis.gov) thanks everyone who participated in our video project to celebrate the nation's 239th birthday on July 4. To find naturalization ceremony photos and immigrant stories posted by some of the more than 700,000 people each year who become U.S. citizens, check #newUScitizen and #newAmericans on social media.
More Resources American English at State: Celebrate Independence Day(pdf) Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4 because on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, officially breaking bonds with England and forming a new independent nation, the United States of America. JenniferESL: Lesson 26 - Red, White & Blue Idioms - Happy Fourth of July!
Learn six idioms based on the colors red, white, and blue. MORE PRACTICE Rachel's English: 4th of July Traditions Happy 4th of July! This is the day we celebrate America’s independence. Study vocabulary, pronunciation, and phrases as we study REAL English conversation and learn about 4th of July traditions in the US. TED-ED: What you might not know about the Declaration of Independence - Kenneth C. Davis (video) In June 1776, a little over a year after the start of the American Revolutionary War, the US Continental Congress huddled together in a hot room in Philadelphia to talk independence. Kenneth C. Davis dives into some of the lesser known facts about the process of writing the Declaration of Independence and questions one very controversial omission. US News: 15,000 people became Americans on Independence Day 2017
Immigrants from around the world celebrated their new American citizenship in over 65 naturalization ceremonies across the United States.
In our news wrap Tuesday, White House and Justice Department officials confirmed the U.S. Census Bureau will begin printing forms for the 2020 survey, without a citizenship question. Also, members of the European Union have broken a deadlock and chosen new leaders, including Belgium's Charles Michel to head the European Council and France’s Christine Lagarde to lead the European Central Bank.
A Quick Comparison between the USCIS N-400 and Census 2020
We are back from out hiatus with a new series about U.S. Citizenship and the U.S. Census 2020. The first episode is a quick comparison between the USCIS N-400 and Census 2020.
Follow Hansi Lo Wang @hansilowang on Twitter NPR.org national correspondent covering #2020Census
The New Yorker: How the Census Changed America by Ted Widmer, May 1, 2019
The simple act of enumeration created data processing, led to the establishment of the National Archives, and rooted a rootless people.
