U.S. seeks to hike fees for immigration applications and impose first-ever asylum charge [View all]
Washington The Trump administration rolled out a proposal Friday to hike application fees for immigrants seeking to remain in the U.S. including a first-ever charge for those seeking refuge. It's the administration's latest move to restrict pathways for obtaining asylum and immigration benefits like U.S. citizenship.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency in charge of administering immigration benefits, unveiled a proposed rule that would significantly increase petition fees for immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, for young undocumented immigrants looking to renew protections from deportation and for victims of crimes who are seeking to stay in the country through their assistance to law enforcement.
The proposal would impose a $50 application fee for affirmative asylum applications and a $490 work permit fee for all asylum seekers. Fees for citizenship petitions would also increase from $750 to $1,170, and the amount could be higher for some immigrants.
"It's an unprecedented weaponization of government fees," Doug Rand, an Obama White House official who co-founded a company to help immigrants navigate the U.S. immigration system, said in a statement.
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