USCIS ramps up fees for legal immigrants

Here is the public comment I submitted to the Department of Homeland Security today about the new fees the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposes for fiscal year 2020.

You can still make a comment at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=USCIS-2019-0010-0001 by midnight Dec. 30.

I oppose the higher fees that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services proposes to charge immigrants who aspire to improve their legal status. I realize that USCIS must raise most of its budget by charging user fees to applicants. But these increases will make it difficult, or impossible, for low-income working immigrants to adjust their status in their adopted country. Even the proposal to not allow payment by money order or cashier’s check creates hardship for immigrants who do not have a bank account or credit card.

One reason behind these fee hikes is the administration’s plan to transfer $207.6 million in applicant fees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for FY 2020. This is unfair to applicants who struggle financially to pay USCIS fees. ICE already receives far more generous funding than USCIS.

I ask USCIS to not eliminate fee waivers that make it possible for low-income immigrants to petition for work authorization, legal residency and citizenship. This year, a congressional committee reportedly urged USCIS to continue its traditional waivers.

I urge USCIS to not impose a $50 fee on people seeking asylum in the U.S. Many of these people were in imminent danger and left their countries overnight without possessions or assets. Even a modest fee would bar many people from beginning the asylum process and such a fee would violate the intent of the 1980 Refugee Act.

Finally, I ask USCIS to lower, not raise, the renewal fee for immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Many DACA recipients are working their way through college (they can’t get most student aid) or have graduated and have to pay off college loans. Many of these young people are professionals working in our classrooms and health facilities, contributing to the well-being of all Americans.