Immigration advocates fear another move by the Trump administration will deter immigrants from seeking citizenship, this time through paperwork.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services agency plans to increase processing fees on a variety of citizenship-related forms, including applications for naturalization, those to renew DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status and those to seek asylum. For example, the cost to apply for delayed removal would go up from $285 to $1,800, according to Cronkite News.
USCIS argued the fee increases would simply reflect the true cost of doing business, as its budget does rely almost entirely on the collection of such fees. In fact, the agency said it could be underfunded by more than $1 billion a year without the increased fees, but some immigration advocates have equated the increases to a wealth test.
For more on what this means for would-be applicants, The Show talked to Lynn Marcus, director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Arizona’s College of Law.
