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.
In a memorandum issued Wednesday, Treasury is calling for two $250 billion cash infusions to individuals: A first set of checks issued starting April 6, with a second wave in mid-May.
Stocks are falling sharply on Wall Street in early trading as fears spread that the coronavirus is causing a global recession.
The U.S. and Canada have agreed to temporarily close their shared border to nonessential travel. President Donald Trump made that announcement Wednesday on Twitter as the two nations work to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the airline industry, even as momentum for an enormous bailout package builds in the White House and on Capitol Hill, ia growing backlash has been sparked among Democratic lawmakers, consumer advocates, and antitrust experts.
Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) told Cheddar’s J.D. Durkin on Tuesday,“[An airline bailout] is going to have to be a part of this immediate package
Stocks are closing solidly higher after President Donald Trump promised he's “going big” with plans to blunt the economic pain caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that New Yorkers should prepare for the possibility of a “shelter-in-place” order within the next 48 hours.
Stocks are adding sharply to their gains on Wall Street after President Donald Trump and his team announced more measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Stacey Cunningham, president of the New York Stock Exchange, told Cheddar on Tuesday that the markets remaining open is important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The White House announced major moves in coordination with the Federal Reserve to mitigate economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic which has brought some industries to a near halt.
