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.
Lead House Manager Adam Schiff in Trump's impeachment trial brought a little incredulous humor into the proceedings when he pointed out the Justice Department's contradictory position on subpoenas being presented in federal court on the same day.
The Committee met twice last week but held off making the designation that allows the organization to ramp up the international response to the coronavirus.
The attorneys for advice columnist E. Jean Carroll say they want to determine whether Trump's genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the encounter. They served a legal notice Thursday to one of Trump's lawyers demanding the sample.
As Republicans gain in confidence that they can block a vote on witnesses, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Cheddar he still thinks Democrats can prevail in tomorrow’s expected witness vote.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, January 30, 2020.
The president has argued he has absolute immunity to bar testimony, an issue Minnesota's Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar would like to question.
The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a low level Wednesday amid an economy that looks solid but faces potential global threats.
Senators began submitting questions as the next phase of President Trump's impeachment trial opened Wednesday, including Republican Susan Collins on behalf of herself and colleagues Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney.
The Democratic senator from Virginia expressed concern that the impeachment trial of President Trump also puts to question the impartiality of the entire American system of justice as well.
President Donald Trump has signed into law a major rewrite of the rules of trade with Canada and Mexico.
