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.
The Senate voted to acquit the president on both counts, 52-48 on abuse of power and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress, after a 12-day impeachment trial, the shortest ever.
An institution that often calls its interest-rate stance “data-dependent,” the Fed is increasingly recognizing that some privately produced data is nearly as accurate as — and often timelier than — the government reports that it has long depended upon.
Romney called Trump's actions — the president was impeached on charges of abuse of power and obstructing Congress— "perhaps the most abusive and destructive" violation of oath of office that I can imagine."
Minneapolis City Council member Andrea Jenkins discussed her range of issues including city services, the LGBTQ community, communities of color, infrastructure, economic development, and the future of the U.S. presidency.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, February 5, 2020.
Tonight President Donald Trump gets to issue his third State of the Union address to lawmakers and guests on Capitol Hill. Cheddar is keeping track of the night's best moments.
Democratic state Rep. Robert "Renny" Cushing told Cheddar that the Granite State, surrounded by adult-use legal states, needs to get with the times.
Democratic Party officials in Iowa have released more than 60 percent their delayed caucus results. Confusion and chaos still hang over Iowa and its first-in-the-nation presidential contest.
Technology companies and banks led a broad rally for U.S. stocks in midday trading Tuesday following solid gains overseas. China took more steps to soften the financial blow of the virus outbreak and its main stock index rose following a plunge a day earlier.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, February 4, 2020.
