For people seeking work or an escape to a better life in the United States, it's going to cost about two times the current amount, following a move by the Trump administration to hike fees on various immigration applications.
Michelle Mendez, director of defending vulnerable programs at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), calls the move an assault on immigration.
"This rule, these fees that have increased will make it extremely difficult for individuals to become legal immigrants, specifically to become naturalized immigrants, to become citizens," Mendez told Cheddar.
The new fees, which are set to be increased in October, will also gravely impact the world's most at-risk populations seeking asylum in the U.S., Mendez added.
"$50 may seem to be a small fee for many of us. We have to understand that asylum seekers leave their countries, they flee their countries with practically nothing," she said.
While news of the increased fees may be looked on as damning, Mendez said the move is on par with the Trump administration's previous moves to eliminate "access to the legal immigration process."
"During the [presidential] campaign, the rhetoric was very much focused on illegal immigration. We knew that that actually meant they were going to attack illegal and legal immigration," she said.
For Mendez, the idea of increasing fees and making the process even more difficult for people who want to become American is a jab at the foundation upon which the country was built.
"When we limit the opportunity for people to be engaged in the process by being citizens, that really undermines our democracy. That really undermines our democratic process," she stated.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson pushed back against President Trump's attacks on mail-in voting, which have continued for days, leading Twitter to put up its first fact checks on the president's account.
The House has passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan measure to modify a new “paycheck protection” program for businesses that have suffered COVID-related losses.
The government figures underscore the continuing damage to businesses and livelihoods from the outbreak that has now killed at least 100,000 people in the U.S.
President Donald Trump is threatening social media companies with new regulation or even closure after Twitter added fact checks to two of his tweets.
Only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if the scientists working furiously to create one succeed.
A U.S. appeals court has ruled against major oil companies in lawsuits brought by California cities and counties seeking damages for climate change.
While much of the U.S. remains shuttered, state and local leaders in waterfront communities are beginning to allow beaches, boardwalks, and coastal businesses to open on a limited basis.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is lobbying for the Republican National Convention to be moved to his state, a day after President Donald Trump demanded assurances from North Carolina’s Democratic governor that the convention can go forward in August despite coronavirus fears.
The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange is reopening for the first time in two months, but it doesn't look — or sound — the same.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
