[CLARKED] Immigration Reform (Antispam) Bill

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

shall be amended by deletion of the phrase "upon certification from the Ministry of Immigration that the prospective citizen has sufficient understanding of Talossan life and culture for full participation".

This should be changed by adding in the following text:

Subsections 7.1 through 7.12 shall remain in their current form.

This prevents any ambiguous reading wherein the entire section is replaced with the above.  I think the bill would probably be okay without it, but this is more clear and it is my recommendation.

For extra points, the sponsor could even instead make the altered section 7 into a new subsection 7.1 and then direct the Scribe to renumber all subsections within section 7 to accommodate, although then we'll need to check for any cross-references.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I didn't have a chance to comment on the merits of the bill before it hit the CRL, so outside of that, I'll note that replacing the essay with a test is a really poor plan, and likely to discourage potential immigrants.  So I will be voting against this.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The changes having been made, I see no further issue with the bill's form and function, and I vote to approve.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I would replace "2.2. All Immigration applications shall be written in one of the national languages." by "2.2. All Immigration applications shall be written in Talossan or in English.", as I am not sure that national languages are defined as such (see Article I Section 2 or 5 of the OrgLaw.)

Do you vote to approve the bill now?

@Dr. Pôl dal Nordselvă , what do you think?

[þerxh Sant-Enogat]

Yes no objections

[M:sr Pôl dal Nordselvă, D.Div, M.Ed]

I dont find any reason to object to the proposed changes.

[M:sr Pôl dal Nordselvă, D.Div, M.Ed]

My apology for a slow response. I've been focused on finding a new job and my attention has been a bit scattered. BTW I did find a new position as a STEM teacher for a K-8 private school. It'll be a interesting position I think.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

I am open to making amendments to this before Clarking if someone else can provide better ways to eliminate prospectives' use of LLMs. It doesn't have to be on the immigration form but we have to have a law that says: "sorry, speak in your own voice, using Google Translate where necessary, don't get a robot to speak for you"

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I still think it would be much better to just eliminate the essay requirement or change it so that it's not called an essay.

And also -- although this isn't in the bill -- if we don't want people to use LLMs, why don't we tell them that on the application?!  It's crazy that we're whining about this without even trying the lowest-hanging fruit to fix it!

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

I still think it would be much better to just eliminate the essay requirement

Great, so I'll stick with that.

if we don't want people to use LLMs, why don't we tell them that on the application?!

I *am* going to make certain changes to the immigration form, once the Ziu gives me authorisation to do this particular change (inc. the injunction to use one of ár glheþs naziunáis)

[Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC]

Okay, I'm making a couple of additional amendments pre-Clarking:

- deleting the bit about "a simple test of knowledge", because the text of the law already authorises MinImm to inquire on any subject (and that subject may well be "do you know what Talossa is?")

- explicitly stating what happens to a "defective" immigration application (i.e. MinImm has to at least offer the prospective the chance to fix it, and may decide at their discretion to let a "defective" application proceed)
===

WHEREAS there is a long and venerable tradition of applicants for Talossan citizenship being required to produce an essay along the lines of "What Talossa Means To Me", for fellow citizens to judge their character and bona fides;

AND WHEREAS recent advances in Large Language Model technologies such as ChatGPT now allow essays to be "autogenerated", without any thought on the part of the applicant;

AND WHEREAS, while even AI-generated essays may be informative, the current provision that requires an essay to be written as a form of "gatekeeping" is therefore no longer useful;

AND WHEREAS if applicants decide to post essays (even AI-generated) on Wittenberg after their application has been successful, it will be a better test of their real interest in becoming Talossan;

AND WHEREAS the requirement that the Immigration Minister sign off on prospectives' cultural competence has never been used, and it should be citizens which make that determination

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled as follows:

1. El Lexhatx E.2, which currently reads:

2.1 The Minister of Immigration shall ascertain to his own satisfaction, through correspondence or conversation, that the prospective immigrant is a real human being with genuine interest in becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. The Minister shall be free to inquire of the applicant on any and every subject, and shall be required to collect the legal name or name used in daily life, postal address (optional if the applicant is under 18 years of age, except for information needed to assign the applicant to a province), telephone number, and e-mail address(es) of the candidate, which information the Minister shall communicate to the Secretary of State. The applicant shall affirm or swear, under penalty of perjury and under the provisions of Lexh.A.16.1., that this information is accurate, and shall provide documentary evidence of the same if the Minister thinks it appropriate.

    2.2 Additionally, the Immigration Minister shall be required to collect an essay, written by the applicant, entitled "Why I am Interested in Becoming a Talossan." If the Immigration Minister considers that this essay misunderstands the nature of Talossa or the rights and duties of Talossan citizenship, or gives insufficient information to enable citizens to ask meaningful questions of the prospective, they may require the applicant to submit a rewritten essay before proceeding to the next stage. When doing so, the Immigration Minister shall provide the applicant with sufficient information to do so successfully, or indicate where to find such information.

    2.3 The Immigration Minister shall also allow every applicant to indicate, whether in the essay described elsewhere in this section or otherwise, what part or parts of Talossan life are the Special Interests of the applicant. These may include Politics, Language, Culture, Heraldry, or any other categories as the Minister may see fit or that may be suggested by the applicant.

    2.4 The Immigration Minister shall make a monthly report to the Ziu reporting the number of immigration applications received in that month which did not proceed because failing to fulfil the requirements of this section. For each failed application the Minister shall note which part or part of the requirements of this section were lacking in the application

shall be amended to read:

2.1 The Minister of Immigration shall ascertain to their own satisfaction that the prospective immigrant is a real human being with genuine interest in becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. The Minister shall be free to inquire of the applicant on any and every subject, and shall be required to collect the legal name or name used in daily life, postal address (optional if the applicant is under 18 years of age, except for information needed to assign the applicant to a province), telephone number, and e-mail address(es) of the candidate, which information the Minister shall communicate to the Secretary of State. The applicant shall affirm or swear, under penalty of perjury and under the provisions of Lexh.A.16.1., that this information is accurate, and shall provide documentary evidence of the same if the Minister thinks it appropriate.

2.2. All Immigration applications shall be written in one of the official languages of the Kingdom.

2.3 The Immigration Minister shall also allow every applicant to indicate what part or parts of Talossan life are the Special Interests of the applicant. These may include Politics, Language, Culture, Heraldry, or any other categories as the Minister may see fit or that may be suggested by the applicant.

2.4 If an application for immigration does not meet the requirements of this section, the Immigration Minister shall communicate this fact to the prospective citizen and explain how to remedy the problems with their application. Should the applicant not do so to the Minister's satisfaction, the Minister may at their discretion not proceed to the next stages of the immigration process..

2.5. The Immigration Minister shall report, at least monthly, to the Ziu the number of any immigration applications received since the last report which did not proceed because failing to fulfil the requirements of this section. For each failed application the Minister shall note which part or part of the requirements of this section were lacking in the application.

2. El Lexhatx E.7, which currently reads:

7. The Secretary of State shall, on a date of his choosing, but within a period of ten days after receiving a petition from at least two citizens, neither of whom shall be the Minister of Immigration or anyone to whom they have delegated their powers, to issue a Grant of Citizenship as described in clause 4, and upon certification from the Ministry of Immigration that the prospective citizen has sufficient understanding of Talossan life and culture for full participation determine the provincial assignment of the prospective immigrant and issue a Royal Grant of Citizenship to the immigrant. This Grant shall be issued under the Royal Seal, either as applied by the Chancery, or, should the Majesty request, by the Sovereign under his or her own hand. If requested by the Government, the Grant may also bear the signatures of the Seneschal and/or Immigration Minister. The Royal Grant shall be promptly issued coincident with the candidate affirming his fealty to the Royal House and his allegiance to the Kingdom by taking any Oath of Talossan Citizenship specified by law. At the time this Royal Grant is issued, and from that point forward, the applicant shall be a full citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. The fact of the issuance of this Grant shall be posted on Wittenberg by the Secretary of State, that the new citizen may be welcomed by his compatriots. Any and all objections raised to the immigration made after this Royal Grant will be moot.

shall be amended by deletion of the phrase "upon certification from the Ministry of Immigration that the prospective citizen has sufficient understanding of Talossan life and culture for full participation". Subsections 7.1 through 7.12 shall remain in their current form.

Uréu q'estadra så: Miestră Schivă (MC-AVANT)