Out of Many, One (2018)

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks when our visa system changed, to Trump's obsession with building a wall on our border, for twenty years now immigration has become a deeply maligned and controversial subject in the United States. To address this changed political climate, in 2017 The New York Historical Society started its "Citizenship Project" to help immigrants with green cards prepare for the US Citizen and Immigration Services Naturalization Exam. The test isn't multiple choice, by the way. Rather, a USCIS officer asks the applicant ten questions from a list of 100 questions; the applicant must answer at least six of them correctly. This 34-minute Netflix Documentary is an unabashedly inspirational and patriotic look at a group of immigrants as they prepare for the test with help from the NYHS program. They do classroom study, field trips, and workshops. America's history is presented with its unsavory aspects, too, like slavery and the civil rights movement. There are forms and interviews. The film features a half dozen or so immigrants who tell their own stories about how and why they came to America. And at the end, Ruth Bader Ginsburg administers to them their oath of citizenship. Bravo!

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net