A federal grand jury in Sacramento, California has indicted twenty people for allegedly taking part in a scheme to falsify the citizenship tests of as many as 13,000 immigrants in twenty-two states.

The accused worked for or operated citizenship testing centers under contract with the INS. Prosecutors claim that they charged the immigrants fees ranging from $125 to $500 and, in exchange, promised applicants they would pass the naturalization English and civics tests. The defendants allegedly would supply correct answers, allow applicants to compare answers and, in some cases, even take the tests for certain applicants. The INS discovered the alleged scheme after going undercover and posing as citizenship applicants.

The indicted defendants work for three of the six INS-certified testing firms. The firms are Educational Testing Service of Princeton, NJ; Southeast College National Testing Organization of Houston and NAS, a group no longer approved to conduct these tests.

The INS has begun an investigation of the thousands of immigrants who took the tainted tests. The agency will then make a determination for each applicant whether the test should be retaken, citizenship revoked and/or the alien should be prosecuted for immigration fraud.

INS Commissioner Meissner has also indicated that citizenship testing procedures will be substantially overhauled over the next several months. The INS is said to be considering abandoning private testing all together.