Ruark

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

I appreciate all the responses, positive and negative.  A few points:
 
 - yes, my MIL has a "bucket list" of becoming an American citizen. It's a dream of hers, really, whether there is any practical reason or not.  She's only been here 5 years, and her husband died 2 years ago from cancer, so she's just been living with us since then.  She's a very simple, plain old lady, no formal education, very meek and timid and scared of just about everything here. 
 
 - I talked with a local immigration attorney who knows the officers at this location.  He said most of them were nice, but some of them weren't, and this particular woman "was the worst of them, very, very bad."  Apparently she has a reputation.  When my MIL came to her, she didn't smile, say "how are you," nothing. Just waved at her to follow her and strode to her office.  I did NOT go to the office with them.
 
 - Once in the office, not a word was said. She just pointed at a  chair, sat behind her desk, grabbed a piece of paper (apparently with civics questions on it) and started throwing questions at my MIL so fast she didn't even have time to answer some of them.  No greeting, no "small talk," no oath, nothing. The woman (and I can testify to this) talked VERY fast, and with a hispanic accent. She didn't even look up at my MIL when she asked the questions.  She had an angry facial expression during the entire interview.  On one occasion, my MIL asked politely, "can you repeated, please?" and the officer displayed an angry, frustrated expression. My MIL didn't try that again.  It was pointless, anyway; this woman was utterly IMPOSSIBLE for her to understand.
 
Some people seem to think that just because you "know English," you should be able to jabber like a TV sports announcer. 
 
When she finished, the officer simply stood up, walked to the door and held it open, said "2nd interview" and motioned for my MIL to leave.
 
 - My MIL *CAN* pass all three tests, and answer the N400 questions.  That wasn't the issue.  The issue was that she was not ABLE to take and pass the tests because of the officer's behavior.  If she had JUST been a LITTLE more polite and a little more patient, my MIL would have passed with flying colors.
 
And again, a major issue here is her age.  It is virtually impossible for an 80 year old woman to learn to read, write and speak English from scratch, no matter what she does.
 
- FWIW, having a translator present is an option only if they've lived here 15 years.  My MIL won't even be alive 10 years from now.
 
Talking to an immigration attorney Monday who has a reputation for being aggressive and being a fighter when it comes to dealing with the U.S. government.  Hopefully he will be able to contribute something.
 
Thanks again for your comments.

I appreciate all the responses, positive and negative.  A few points:
 
 - yes, my MIL has a "bucket list" of becoming an American citizen. It's a dream of hers, really, whether there is any practical reason or not.  She's only been here 5 years, and her husband died 2 years ago from cancer, so she's just been living with us since then.  She's a very simple, plain old lady, no formal education, very meek and timid and scared of just about everything here. 
 
 - I talked with a local immigration attorney who knows the officers at this location.  He said most of them were nice, but some of them weren't, and this particular woman "was the worst of them, very, very bad."  Apparently she has a reputation.  When my MIL came to her, she didn't smile, say "how are you," nothing. Just waved at her to follow her and strode to her office.  I did NOT go to the office with them.
 
 - Once in the office, not a word was said. She just pointed at a  chair, sat behind her desk, grabbed a piece of paper (apparently with civics questions on it) and started throwing questions at my MIL so fast she didn't even have time to answer some of them.  No greeting, no "small talk," no oath, nothing. The woman (and I can testify to this) talked VERY fast, and with a hispanic accent. She didn't even look up at my MIL when she asked the questions.  She had an angry facial expression during the entire interview.  On one occasion, my MIL asked politely, "can you repeated, please?" and the officer displayed an angry, frustrated expression. My MIL didn't try that again.  It was pointless, anyway; this woman was utterly IMPOSSIBLE for her to understand.
 
Some people seem to think that just because you "know English," you should be able to jabber like a TV sports announcer. 
 
When she finished, the officer simply stood up, walked to the door and held it open, said "2nd interview" and motioned for my MIL to leave.
 
 - My MIL *CAN* pass all three tests, and answer the N400 questions.  That wasn't the issue.  The issue was that she was not ABLE to take and pass the tests because of the officer's behavior.  If she had JUST been a LITTLE more polite and a little more patient, my MIL would have passed with flying colors.
 
And again, a major issue here is her age.  It is virtually impossible for an 80 year old woman to learn to read, write and speak English from scratch, no matter what she does.
 
- FWIW, having a translator present is an option only if they've lived here 15 years.  My MIL won't even be alive 10 years from now.
 
Talking to an immigration attorney Monday who has a reputation for being aggressive and being a fighter when it comes to dealing with the U.S. government.  Hopefully he will be able to contribute something.
 
Thanks again for your comments.

I appreciate all the responses, positive and negative.  A few points:
 
 - yes, my MIL has a "bucket list" of becoming an American citizen. It's a dream of hers, really, whether there is any practical reason or not.  She's only been here 5 years, and her husband died 2 years ago from cancer, so she's just been living with us since then.  She's a very simple, plain old lady, no formal education, very meek and timid and scared of just about everything here. 
 
 - I talked with a local immigration attorney who knows the officers at this location.  He said most of them were nice, but some of them weren't, and this particular woman "was the worst of them, very, very bad."  Apparently she has a reputation.  When my MIL came to her, she didn't smile, say "how are you," nothing. Just waved at her to follow her and strode to her office.  I did NOT go to the office with them.
 
 - Once in the office, not a word was said. She just pointed at a  chair, sat behind her desk, grabbed a piece of paper (apparently with civics questions on it) and started throwing questions at my MIL so fast she didn't even have time to answer some of them.  No greeting, no "small talk," no oath, nothing. The woman (and I can testify to this) talked VERY fast, and with a hispanic accent. She didn't even look up at my MIL when she asked the questions.  She had an angry facial expression during the entire interview.  On one occasion, my MIL asked politely, "can you repeated, please?" and the officer displayed an angry, frustrated expression. My MIL didn't try that again.  It was pointless, anyway; this woman was utterly IMPOSSIBLE for her to understand.
 
Some people seem to think that just because you "know English," you should be able to jabber like a TV sports announcer. 
 
When she finished, the officer simply stood up, walked to the door and held it open, said "2nd interview" and motioned for my MIL to leave.
 
 - My MIL *CAN* pass all three tests, and answer the N400 questions.  That wasn't the issue.  The issue was that she was not ABLE to take and pass the tests because of the officer's behavior.  If she had JUST been a LITTLE more polite and a little more patient, my MIL would have passed with flying colors.
 
And again, a major issue here is her age.  It is virtually impossible for an 80 year old woman to learn to read, write and speak English from scratch, no matter what she does.
 
- FWIW, having a translator present is an option only if they've lived here 15 years.  My MIL won't even be alive 10 years from now.
 
Talking to an immigration attorney Monday who has a reputation for being aggressive and being a fighter when it comes to dealing with the U.S. government.  Hopefully he will be able to contribute something.
 
Thanks again for your comments.

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

I appreciate the responses so far.  For what it's worth, she DID learn English enough to pass the tests with flying colors.  She passed the writing fine.  She can read as well as a native reader, but didn't get the reading test because the officer assumed she didn't know what she was supposed to do.  We just went through the 100 civics questions again and she got 94 of them correct.  We play-acted the interview process here at home several times.  She was all set.  The problem was the officer being so rude and short with her, looking angry, talking too fast while not even looking at her, etc. 
 
I'm not sure that a disability exception would be viable.  There is an exception for mental disability, but it's more for things like mental retardation. 

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.

This was at the San Antonio USCIS center.
 
I took my mother in law, from Russia, to her citizenship interview yesterday. It was a nightmare. She is 80 years old, no education, a very frail, meek, gentle old lady, who has struggled for 2 years trying to learn enough English to pass the interview.  We practiced daily, and she reached the point where she can do the civics questions, speaking and writing tests almost perfectly.  But still, she can BARELY use English.  Good grief, she's 80 years old, remember.
 
We watched the "sample interviews" online, where it showed these warm, smiling officers greeting them, asking them to raise their hands, "please remain standing," etc. and she was prepared for that at well. We actually play-acted these situations in the living room.
 
None of this happened.  The officer stepped into the waiting area and called out her number.  She walked over and smiled at the officer, who was stone-faced, cold as ice.  The officer waved at her to come, without saying a word, and walked back to her office.  There, she just pointed at a chair, gesturing for my MIL to sit.  She didn't greet her, introduce herself, nothing.  No "please remain standing," no oath, etc. Then she sat behind the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and started throwing questions at my MIL, never looking up at her, just looking down at the paper and mumbling the questions at a high speed. Of course, my MIL had NO idea what she was saying.  One time my MIL asked her, with a smile, "can you repeat, please," and she looked angry. My MIL was too intimidated to try that again. 
 
Then she tried the civics questions. She asked a couple of questions and didn't even give my MIL time to answer them. A couple of times she did answer, but the officer claimed "I couldn't understand what she was saying." Of course, my MIL speaks with a heavy Russian accent, but she is by NO means understandable!  She gave my MIL the writing test, and she did fine, she passed that.  The officer didn't even GIVE her the reading-aloud test, which surprised me, as my MIL reads PERFECTLY, better that some native English speakers. I asked the officer why she didn't give the reading test, and she smirked, "I couldn't, she didn't even know what I wanted her to do" which was total bullcrap. For heaven's sakes, just put the sentences in front of her and say "read these"! 
 
When they were finished, the officer stood up, walked to the office door and opened it, and rudely motioned for my MIL to leave.  No comments, no smile, no nothing.  She just barked "2nd interview" and stood there by the door.  The entire thing was less than 10 minutes. 
 
My MIL was despondent, not just at failing the test she was CAPABLE of scoring perfectly, but at the rudeness of the officer.  We talked to a friend whose parents had been through it, and she said, "oh, they're all like that, just rude and ugly, this is all normal...." and she advised taking an attorney to the next interview.  So we are going tomorrow for a preliminary visit with a good attorney ($$$).  Meanwhile, my MIL was crushed.  As of 10 pm last night she was still crying.  Have you ever seen an 80 year old lady crying herself to sleep?  It's not pretty.
 
My wife, of course, was livid that this could treat her mother like that and walk away scott free.  We plan to write a complaint to the supervisor, but will consult the attorney first, before doing anything. 
 
Thoughts, comments and advice are welcome.
 
Thanks.