Trump admin. wants to raise costs to become a U.S. citizen by 83 percent
“This outrageous rule aims to price out low-income and working-class immigrants from U.S. citizenship,” says an immigration rights advocate.
Becoming a U.S. citizen may get a lot more expensive, and groups are urging legal permanent residents to apply as soon as possible.
The Trump administration wants to increase the cost of citizenship applications by 83 percent for roughly 9 million immigrants eligible to become U.S. citizens.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Department of Homeland Security officially announced the proposed price hike Thursday, saying that “current fees do not recover the full costs of providing adjudication and naturalization services.”
The citizenship application fee would go from $640 to $1,170 and fees associated with legal permanent residency will go up 79 percent — from $1,220 to $2,195.
Advocates like Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA,see the administration’s proposal as “a targeted and brazen attack especially on those who are poor and vulnerable” because it seeks to price out immigrants “of their rightful place in our communities and in America.”
The proposed rule also outlines a series of other kinds of fee increases that impact immigration-related applications for asylum-seekers, Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries, DACA recipients and legal permanent residents.
DACA renewals would increase from $495 to $765, possibly giving Trump officials a tool to limit the program in case the Supreme Court allows the program to continue despite the administration’s efforts to end it.
The administration is also seeking to transfer $207.6 million of USCIS funding and divert it to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
