By April Hamlin
In a speech on Monday, Donald Trump proposed an absurd “idealogical test” to gauge the “American values” of
immigrants seeking to become naturalized citizens of the United States. Khizr
Khan and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid are calling out the billionaire
bigot anddaring him to take the test himself — without failing.
Khan
made headlines when Trump attacked him after he spoke at the Democratic
National Convention. Khan talked about his son, who gave his while serving with
the U.S. military in Iraq, and asked if Trump had ever even read the
Constitution before offering to lend him his copy.
In response to Trump’s proposed
test for
immigrants, Khan slammed his bigoted rhetoric and challenged the Republican
nominee to take the test along with him.
This is my country too. We must make it safe ― as Muslim Americans it is our obligation to keep our country safe. We reject all violence. We support better immigration policies. We stand as a testament to assimilation and being part of patriotic America as anyone else.I challenge Trump to take the naturalization test with me any day. His is demagoguery and pandering for vote. A divider like Trump can never be the steward of this country.
Reid also
responded to Trump’s naturalization test by daring him to step up and take the test himself. He said
in no uncertain terms that he didn’t have any reason to believe that Trump
would be able to pass and “would almost certainly fail.”
Since Donald Trump wants to impose new tests on immigrants, he should take the one test every immigrant has to pass to become a United States citizen. He would almost certainly fail, given his general ignorance and weak grasp of basic facts about American history, principles and functioning of our government.
The Senate
minority leader added that “unlike immigrants, Donald Trump represents none of
the qualities that make America great,” and then proceeded to list a multitude
of ways in which immigrants do just that.
Trump claimed
that “extreme, extreme vetting” is absolutely necessary to “screen out any
who have hostile attitudes toward our country or its principles.”
He insisted
that this test would include questions to gain an understanding of an
applicant’s stances on gender equality, gay rights, religious freedom and the
rule of American law.
Anyone who fails the test would not be allowed to
become a U.S. citizen and this will keep us all safe, because ISIS.
Despite Trump’s
arguments otherwise, it was glaringly obvious that he wasn’t trying to screen
out just any immigrants and this was just another way he had come up with to
keep Muslims out of the United States. Ironically, Trump and most of his
followers would fail the test themselves.
Author April Hamlin has studied political science, psychology, and philosophy. Back in the
good old days she was a reporter for “old fashioned” print newspapers. In
addition to news and politics, she also blogs about service dogs and disability
advocacy. As a black woman with a disability, she is fed up with the
right-wingers who would prefer that she and others like her didn’t exist.