Many immigrants come to America with a dream.

The opportunity to one day call themselves United States citizens.

No matter where you are in the U.S., earning citizenship is often a long and difficult process that requires years of commitment, perseverance, and faith.

From securing legal assistance and gathering documentation to studying for the civics exam, paying application fees, and waiting for approval, the path to citizenship can test a person's resolve at every step.

Hello, I'm Catherine Anaya and welcome to a special episode of Horizonte.

We are featuring the documentary “Tested: Becoming a U.S.

Citizen A film that explores the naturalization process, its history, and the experiences of immigrants pursuing the American Dream.

Through this documentary well examine what citizenship means, why it matters, and the realities many Arizona immigrants face on the road to becoming Americans.

But first, let's get into the fi (Angela Banks) The naturalizati process doesn't just allow anybo who wants to be a U.S.

citizen to walk up to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office and say, "Hi, I'd like to become a US citizen.

Where do I sign?"

(David Sundland) The only thing to earn my citizenship was I was Same is true of my parents, same is true of my grandparents and my great-grandparents.

And I think too few people appreciate that the naturalization process is far more challenging today than it was a decade ago, 20 years ago, and certainly more, you know, generations ago.

(Karime Rodriguez)- You have to through many processes, many applications, many years, and a lot of money in order to even have the chance to apply because you could always be denied, you could always have to reapply.

So that is one of the biggest misconceptions.

This process is not easy, and it's not granted to everybody equally.

(intriguing orchestral music) Good morning!

(chuckles) - Good morning!

- My name is Karime Rodriguez, and I am a Community Organizer in Phoenix, Arizona, and a Services Manager at the Arizona Center for Empowerment.

We have various pictures here just showing some of the projects that we've done throughout the years.

This one here is actually Citizenship Day 2024, where we had a lot of members coming together to share their experience.

We had a member roundtable, so folks that had already naturalized and gone through our courses came back and talked to the new folks about what their experience was like, how their interview went, just to kind of ease the nerves.

I see a lot of motivation in our community to become citizens, first, for a more permanent protection, I think especially in the climate that we're living in right now, people really want to have something that is more stable, that you don't have to continue to renew like your residency.

So your citizenship really gives you much more security, and also folks are really motivated to be able to vote; many times people have been here for decades and have never been able to exercise that right and have a voice in the democratic process that makes up the decisions that they have to live through every day.

And the third motivation I would say is family-related.

A lot of people want to naturalize so they can help more family members naturalize, and, again, just be part of the community that they've been a part of for many years already.

I think even my own motivations to naturalize really lie within that as well.

My family and I moved to the US when I was two.

I was undocumented from the moment that I came into the country.

As a young adult, I was a DACA recipient, which is Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and that allowed me a work permit, a Social Security card, and a driver's license.

So that really changed my life.

Later on in life, I met my love, I met my husband, and when we got married, I was able to apply for my green card for residency.

Personally, I want to become a citizen because I have a civic duty to vote and make my voice heard, that's one of my biggest driving factors is that I want to vote.

And I do want that stability as well.

I don't want to continue to be on a conditional green card in this country any longer.

Having had DACA and having to renew every two years, I just don't want that instability anymore.

I've been here for 26 years, and this is the country where I want to live in for the rest of my life, and in order for me to do that, I need to become a citizen.

- So I give the overview of the citizenship test, but is this their last step in the process when they're... It's all in one interview, right?

(Grace Vaughan) Yeah, they're go to have one interview during which they'll be asked questions from the application and they'll be asked the questions for the civics portion.

- Okay.

And is this their last step in the process, or are there other steps after the interview?

- The only follow-up step is the actual oath, which could be at- - Oh.

- The same appointment, but more likely it's gonna be another appointment on a different day.

- Right, okay, all right.

- Throughout the naturalization process, there are a lot of different requirements that people need to meet even to just qualify to apply.

And some of those are that they have to have already had a green card for a certain number of years, they need to be able to show that they have good moral character, they need to demonstrate an attachment to the principles of the US government, which is where the civics test comes into the naturalization process.

They also test for their English proficiency and their literacy as well.

(mellow intriguing orchestral music) - I'm David Sundland, and I work for the Literacy Center just as a volunteer in various roles.

I've been volunteering at the Literacy Center for quite a few years, enough years that I can't remember exactly when I started.

There's two versions of the civics test, they both cover US history, the principles, and structure of the government.

So for people who filed for naturalization before October 25th, 2025, they take the 2008 version of the test; for those that filed after October 25th, they take the 2025 version.

And the old version, the 2008 version is 100 questions.

People in a naturalization interview are asked 10 questions, have to get six right.

With the new version, people are asked 20 questions and have to get 12 right.

They didn't simply add 28 questions, they removed 25, so it's 53 new questions and then another 19 questions got modified.

So it was pretty substantial change to the test.

So a lot of reworking on our end and trying to understand exactly how to present the new information.

Before we do the civics, just wanna do some of the overall interview question stuff first.

Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

- [Omar] Navajo.

- [David] What are two cabinet level positions?

- Secretary of State and Attorney General.

- [David] What are the two major political parties in the United States?

- [Omar] Democrat and Republican.

- All right.

One of my roles with the Literacy Center is to teach civics classes.

I wanna make sure that all my students really understand the questions and answers and it's really exciting when a student is getting it and when it's starting to click for people.

That's really satisfying.

What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?

- US diplomat.

(chuckles) - Okay.

(chuckles) (Omar chuckles) The tests provide a good way of measuring how well a person understands the history of the country, the principles about how the government is run.

I don't know how important I would say it is for using that as a criteria for actually being a citizen of this country.

I would say how much a person contributes to the society itself, how much they help other people, if their benefits outweigh their impacts, that would be a bigger test.

(bright mellow orchestral music) - Contrary to popular belief, you can't just become a US citizen in a couple of weeks or a couple of months, you have to prove yourself so much in the process.

I know a lot of my citizen friends who I've actually tested just having fun, and they can't pass the naturalization test, so it really does take studying and intentional time.

And I think that really reflects people taking this seriously and naturalization and citizenship being something that is a privilege, and at the same time is being handled with so much care.

- The history of US naturalization law really begins in 1790, when Congress enacted the first naturalization law.

And in order to naturalize, a person had to be a free white person, have resided in the United States for two years, resided in their state where they applied for naturalization for one year, and be a person of good moral character, and then they also had to take an oath of citizenship.

America was a burgeoning experiment, democracy was something new, and there was a concern that new citizens had to be what was called “fit” for self-government.

And that meant that they had sort of the values, norms, and practices that would support democracy.

And the idea was who are we going to allow to become citizens?

There was a lot of immigration from Europe, and the idea was a lot of these individuals were coming from countries that had monarchies, and the question was, "Would they be supportive of a democratic society, or would they try to sort of surreptitiously reintroduce norms around a monarchy?"

And so, there was a real concern that the democracy was fragile and that the United States need to be very careful about who it allowed to naturalize.

(intriguing orchestral music) Over time, the individuals who were responsible for determining whether or not somebody was eligible for US citizenship via naturalization had to determine if the individual, say, was committed to the US Constitution.

And so, different decision-makers would use different ways of assessing this, some would ask questions about the Constitution, some would just ask questions about American society.

And over the years, that evaluation became more standardized.

So at one point in time, US federal administrators actually enacted a citizenship test that was issued by the government administrators who were reviewing the applications and that they would just sort of ask questions, whatever they wanted to ask.

And there were some concerns that some examiners would ask very easy questions like "How many states are there," whereas other examiners might ask more difficult questions like "Who was the 13th President of the United States?"

So then we moved towards sort of a standardized bank of 100 questions that the examiners had to use.

- Look at the cameras!

Buenos dias!

Buenos dias!

I really hold every single person who is going through naturalization and going through that process really closely, because I know what it feels like to wait, I know what it feels like to save for those fees.

I have met people who already meet all of the requirements, but they simply cannot afford to naturalize and so they continue to renew their green card.

It is now over $700 just for the application itself, and then you pair that with if you have to pay for any prep, if you have to pay for a lawyer to help you fill out the applications.

Many times, people are saving for years to get to that point.

And a little cinnamon for good luck.

I sacrificed a lot of time and effort to get here.

I'll be the first one in my family to naturalize, so I also hold them near my heart and know that this step that I'm taking, so many people wish that they could be in that position, so I'm humbled and I'm just so grateful.

(mellow intriguing orchestral music) I feel that I have two homes.

When I go back to Mexico where I'm from, I feel at home because I find belonging there; and when I'm here in the US, I feel at home because I find belonging here as well.

I actually believe that belonging is not granted by an institution.

No application can give you belonging.

It's really made in your neighborhoods, in your workplaces, in your schools.

For me, being American means being my full, authentic, multicultural self without shame, without worry, and knowing that I am worthy and my community is worthy.

Being naturalized, having citizen is more than a paper to me, it's more than the process, it's more than just this application and the test.

It really is being part of a community that you have already contributed to.

(mellow bright orchestral music) Thank you for joining us for this special episode of Horizonte and the presentation of the documentary “Tested: Becoming a U.S.

citizen.” Joining me to discuss the naturalization process more in depth is the film's director and producer, Cassidy Motahari and two women whom you just saw in the film.

Karime Rodriguez and Grace Vaughan.

Welcome, ladies.

So nice to have you all here.

So, Cassidy, I want to start with you because I think this film is going to be very eye opening for a lot of people who maybe think they know everything involved in the process of becoming a U.S.

citizen.

What made you tackle this particular subject for this documentary?

Yeah.

Thank you for the question.

So I've always been interested in the idea of citizenship and how that relates to our feelings and thoughts about belonging.

And so when an assignment came through my PBS Creative Voices Ignite Filmmaker Fellowship to develop a film about the history of a U. place or thing.

I just kind of got to thinking, you know, what processes, histories and laws have shaped our naturalization requirements.

And on a personal level, I remember when both my parents went through the naturalization process when I was in middle school, and I would come home from my, you know, eighth grade class on U.S.

history, and I would be learning the same things that they were learning in order to take the civics test.

And so it just got me questioning, you know, how did these requirements come to be?

And I decided to dive into that with this film.

It's very educational.

So congratulations on that.

Karime, I want to ask you a little bit about the process, because you help people prepare for it, and you are actually going through it yourself right now.

You are in the area where we call waiting for an interview and also to take the civics test.

You have been in this country for 26 years.

Why do this now?

Yes.

Thank you.

I think naturalization is a great step to take, especially as somebody who has been here for so long.

I immigrated to the U.S.

when I was two years old and landed in Phoenix, and I've been here ever since.

And so this is really the place that I call home, and it's really no other time than now for me to do it.

Obviously some technical reasons that I had to wait so long.

I had to qualify.

I had to first become a permanent resident and then wait three years and then, you know, now I'm able to naturalize.

So there's some pieces of the of the process that just makes me have to wait in general and why it has taken so long.

But I could have waited and stayed a permanent resident.

But for me, I really, really want to be able to participate civically.

I want to be part of making decisions for the community that I've been a part of for over two decades.

And so I want to be able to vote.

I want a status that is more permanent, that I don't have to continue to pay to renew every so, you know, every couple of ye So I think that's why now it's important for me and it's just the natural next step in my journey.

And I don't think a lot of people realize just how many steps are actually involved.

What's been the toughest part of the process up to this point for you?

Oh goodness.

Besides the waiting period, because that is, you know, a big piece of the process.

It's you.

There's so much waiting.

You have to qualify for so many things.

There's also a financial barrier.

Even just to become a permanent resident, I had to pay thousands of thousands of dollars in legal fees and just getting all of my paperwork together.

So becoming a resident was already tough in itself.

And then naturalizing also comes with more fees, more legal barriers.

And so I think that's a piece that sometimes people don't realize is it's really an expensive process, and it's not attainable for many folks who are living paycheck to paycheck.

When I first became a resident, I was actually a college student.

And so pair that with, you know, the cost of living.

And a very pricey process for me.

And so that barrier also kept me from being able to naturalize a little sooner.

We'll talk about the costs involved in just a moment.

Grace has the naturalization pro become more challenging in the last 5 or 10 years?

Definitely.

Every administration is going to determine what priorities they want to prioritize, what they want to enforce.

And everybody knows that immigration as a whole has been something that there's been a lot of changes made in, and that includes the process of citizenship, naturalization.

Lots of different legislation has been passed.

Some things are still in the works.

But definitely things have been gotten been getting stricter and more difficult.

Just within the last few weeks, let alone the last few years.

So Karime explained that she's waiting now nine months just to get her interview and to take the test.

Is that typical?

Yes, that is definitely typical.

Right now I'm seeing a wait of 14 months, approximately for cases that I currently have open the people that I'm representing in naturalization.

It has changed over the years.

Sometimes it's been as low as two months when people expect that they'll have a much longer wait, but then they suddenly have an interview and they're not ready for that.

But more often it's going to be longer.

It's less likely to be shorter.

You are a legal representative, I should say, not a lawyer.

But can you tell us if there have been any recent changes in law that have impacted the process?

Definitely yes.

Not specifically law, but policy.

So there are executive orders th and then policies are drawn out of those.

So USCIS is practically weekly putting out new policies.

Some of them are affecting different aspects of immigration, but definitely ones that are impacting naturalization.

There was one just two weeks ago.

That's shifting how things are being processed and naturalization.

So almost constantly there's changes.

That is a fact of a lot of things these days.

Thank you so much Grace.

Cassidy you called this film “Te and I was wondering what went into naming that specifically because we are talking about taking a test.

It's only part of the process though.

Yeah.

So to be completely candid, one of the reasons that we came up with the title tested was through a workshop that I did through my fellowship with someone who was an expert in film marketing and distribution, and she had this idea.

She was, you know, when you think of the word tested, there is this level of emotional response.

There's maybe a little bit of anxiety, of trepidation.

And so we thought that could be a great start to our title.

And I think, you know, the idea being that people, yes, they take this literal civics test as one of the last things that they do in order to naturalize.

But everything that comes before leading up to that test, whether it's navigating paperwork, making sure that you are able to have the money in order to pay for your fees, establishing residency, all of those things in them, in of themselves are basically a test.

And we see that in the film, which you, you know, cover so, so well, all three of you.

Grace, Karime says in the film that the application is, quote, “not granted to everyone equally What are the circumstances that would lead to a denial?

Immigration law is incredibly specific.

So a person's history could affect whether or not they qualify.

So the first thing that could lead to a denial is that you didn't qualify.

You might have thought you did, but there might be something in your past that you thought was not relevant, but it turned out to be relevant.

So that's one thing that could lead to denial.

Another thing that could lead to denial is not passing qualified qualifying tests that they administer.

Not only do you need to be able to pass the civics exam, which has recently been changed and made more difficult, you also need to demonstrate a level of competence in English, spoken and written, as well as being able to read.

Those are all things that could also they could say, well, you're not good enough so that we're going to deny you for that.

So if somebody is denied, can they automatically reapply or is there a waiting period?

As a rule, depending on it depends on what kind of a denial it is.

If you get denied because you didn't pass the civics exam or the English exam, you automatically get a retry within 2 or 3 months.

They'll just send you a new date.

You get to go home, study some more, come back and try again.

If you're denied for a different reason, like something that is you're lacking a certain kind of evidence.

They will say, we're sending you a request for evidence.

You need to provide us this evidence within a certain time period, which they have just shortened the time period.

Sometimes you have to get evidence from 20 years ago at very short notice.

If you're not able to get that within the time period that they give you, then they will deny your case.

You are allowed to reapply as many times as you want to, but you will have to pay every time and wait every time.

There is a lot involved, obviously, in this process as we're discussing.

Karime, I want to ask you, because you will become the first in your family to become a naturalized citizen.

What does that mean to you personally?

Honestly, I didn't realize how many firsts I would experience here and how many firsts I would be able to experience alongside my family.

I was also the first to graduate from college from my family.

I was the first to be able to travel outside of this country from my family.

And so now being able to be the first to naturalize, it's just showing me that my parents came here for a reason, and I'm living out those reasons, which is so gratifying and so humbling to be able to say, because I know even people in my own family, my own community, my friends, and my inner circle can't apply for the things that I have been able to.

They don't qualify.

And so I hold all of this with a lot of love and gratitude and humility, knowing that I will be able to take this step, and also what it means for my family that I haven't met yet, like my kids who will no longer, they won't grow up like I did with parents who maybe are undocumented.

Or, you know, they'll have more stability with two parents who are U.S.

citizens and those little things that I think some folks don't realize that become part of the process.

Like you, you come to love the country that you've grown up in.

You've come to have pride in the communities that you've built and what you've been able to contribute to.

And so, yes, the naturalization is like a technical process that I have to go through so that I can stay here more permanently, but also symbolically.

It's something that no one else in my family has been able to do.

And hopefully, you know, my kids won't have to be won't have to do it the way that I did so.

That's beautiful.

Thank you for sharing that.

And last question for you, Cassidy.

We have less than a minute left.

What would you like people to take away from when they watch this film?

You know, I think as a filmmaker, my job is never to tell people what to think.

It's to present them not only information, but opportunities to learn from people who they might not encounter in their everyday life and cultivate opportunities for empathy.

So I would like folks to walk away with this film with a better understanding of everything that it takes to become a citizen.

How much citizenship is a privilege that many of us may or may not take for granted if we were born in this country.

And also just question, you know, how are these requirements shaped and does the way that these requirements were shaped reflect our country's promise to fairness and equality for all?

Wonderful.

Great job on the film all of you.

Thank you so much.

I want to thank our guests for a robust discussion about naturalization and the determination and resilience that it takes to become a U.S.

citizen.

We will continue having conversations like these because they are important and they matter to you.

I'm Catherine Anaya, thank you for watching this special episode of Horionte.