Dem
47
GOP
53
When it comes to making it difficult for immigrants to come to the U.S., stay in the U.S., or become citizens of the U.S., Donald Trump is leaving no stone unturned. His latest foray into blood and soil is a plan to make it tougher for legal residents with a green card to become voting citizens. It's bad enough that he can't deport them all, but letting them become citizens and vote is about 10 bridges too far for him.
The plan (probably from OMB Director Russell Vought, because Trump isn't smart enough to think of this stuff and Vought is) is to make the citizenship test harder. It might also involve an essay question, which would give officials much more leeway to flunk people. After all, if the test asks: "Who was president from 1850 to 1853? and an applicant writes in big bold letters: MILLARD FILLMORE, it is correct. If a question is: "Write an essay discussing the points made in Federalist No. 29," the grader has a lot of latitude to fail the applicant for a poor argument or a misplaced comma, especially if all graders are instructed to fail everyone on the essay question.
The administration is also looking to make having a good moral character a slippery slope. Now that clause basically
means the applicant has never been convicted of a crime. In the future, it could require showing positive contributions
the applicant made, for example owning DJT stock, now a bargain at $16.68, but too bad for the rubes people who
bought it at $100.
Alternatively, proof of ownership of some $TRUMP crypto coins might be acceptable. For the financially challenged, half a dozen really positive tweets about how great Trump is might be enough. It would all be up to the examiner. Social media vetting is definitely on the agenda. Support for the Second Amendment is a winner but support for the First Amendment is not. Antisemitic activity (meaning opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) is definitely a no-no. The list will be long. And secret. (V)