The United States is a nation founded by immigrants and populated by immigrants and their descendants. While the U.S. has a rich immigrant heritage, at different times, certain groups of immigrants have been singled out for discrimination and mistreatment. In the mid-19th century, the victims were Catholic, Irish, and German immigrants. In the present-day, immigrants from the Middle East and Latin America are victims of discrimination.

Illegal immigration is one of the most hotly debated topics today both in Washington D.C. and on the streets. Republicans generally push for stronger action against illegal immigration and Democrats generally have a more relaxed stance on the issue.  In the battle of who are and aren’t legal Americans, an interesting fact emerges. According to recent studies, a large percentage of natural born Americans would fail the naturalization test if they took it.

In 2012, when Xavier University conducted a phone survey of U.S. citizens, 35% of those polled failed to answer six out of the 10 questions correctly. A similar poll that Newsweek did in 2011 showed that nearly 40% of natural born Americans would fail. The data may correspond with the fact that the United States’ global education ranking continues to fall. In 2012 the U.S. failed to make the top 20 in global education rankings.

In order to pass the naturalization test to become a U.S. citizen, applicants must correctly answer six out of ten questions. There are 100 possible questions that the 10 used are taken from, and the list is posted online. Test-takers are able to study beforehand and the national pass rate for the test was 91% at the end of 2013.

How many senators does the U.S. have? What is the U.S. national anthem’s name? How many amendments does the Constitution have? What are the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution called? Who is the current Chief Justice of the United States?

That is a sample of possible questions that can be found on the U.S. naturalization test. If you cannot answer those questions correctly, then you may be in trouble if you actually took the test. If that is the case, then consider it another reason to be thankful for being born in the U.S.A.