The Trump administration proposed increasing fees on Friday for those seeking asylum in the U.S., as well as for some Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applicants.
What's happening: If enacted, the proposal would increase the cost to apply for U.S. citizenship. As part of a crackdown on low-income immigrants, the Trump administration has also proposed penalizing those who use or are likely to use public benefits like food stamps or housing assistance.
By the numbers:
- DACA recipients would pay an additional $275 every two years to renew their legal permits under the new DHS proposal, in addition to the $495 required for filing.
- Asylum seekers would pay a $50 application fee for the first time under the proposal, the Wall Street Journal reports — making the U.S. "one of the few countries in the world to attach a fee to humanitarian protections."
- Those applying to become U.S. citizens would pay $1,170 to apply, instead of $640, per the proposal — an 83% price increase.
- Asylum applicants "with incomes under the federal poverty line" would pay a higher citizenship fee under the new proposal, per the WSJ.
What they're saying: The proposal says the asylum application fee and price increase aim to mitigate fee hikes of other immigration benefits.
Background: President Trump has demanded that citizens and legal residents who sponsor immigrants in the U.S. pay the government back for any public benefits used by the sponsored immigrants.
- The $50 asylum fee "wouldn’t apply to most migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and asking for protection," per the WSJ.
- DHS' proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register and open to public comment on Nov. 14, and its effective date won't be public until then. Many rules are effective a minimum of 30 days after going in Federal Register.
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