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Question 51 of 100 · 2008 civics test

What are two rights of everyone living in the United States?

Part of the 2008 test, which applies if you filed Form N-400 before October 20, 2025.

Accepted answers

  • freedom of expression
  • freedom of speech
  • freedom of assembly
  • freedom to petition the government
  • freedom of religion
  • the right to bear arms

Each answer here counts on its own. If the question asks for two or more, give that many.

Why this is the answer

Everyone is the word to hold on to. The question is not limited to citizens, so the right answers are freedoms that also protect green card holders and other people living in the country. USCIS accepts six: freedom of expression, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to petition the government, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms. You need two. Nearly all of them trace back to a single sentence, the First Amendment, ratified with the rest of the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791. It bars Congress from making laws that establish a religion or prohibit its free exercise, that abridge the freedom of speech, or that limit the right of the people to assemble peaceably and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The last of the six comes from the Second Amendment, which says the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Neither amendment limits these freedoms to citizens, and the USCIS lessons say plainly that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights give many of these rights to all people living in the United States. The same page quotes Thomas Jefferson’s view that the best principles of the republic “secure to all its citizens a perfect equality of rights,” and adds that millions of immigrants came to America to have these rights. The arrangement runs both ways, since people who live here share many duties with citizens, such as paying taxes and obeying the laws. Voting is the answer to steer clear of: in federal elections it is reserved for citizens, so it belongs to the previous question, not this one. Stopping after one right is the other way to lose the point, since the question asks for two. Speech and religion form an easy pair to say without hesitation, and if one escapes you under pressure, assembly and petition are waiting in the same amendment.

Sources

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