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.
While the Republican Congressman from Ohio says passing new laws on gun control won't solve the problem, he points out that current laws need to be followed and that there's no right or wrong time to talk about the issue.
The congresswoman says that President Trump tries to undermine institutions that challenge him and encourage check and balances, something deeply troubling.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman shares her outlook on mass shootings in the U.S., a day after a gunman killed 26 in Texas and just a month removed from her own city seeing the worst rampage in U.S. history.
Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat, joins Cheddar to discuss the ongoing fight to save the Dreamers Act, also known as DACA. He mentions his recent conversations with dozens of undocumented immigrants who came to the States as children, noting that their biggest concerns are losing their jobs and the homes and communities they have built for themselves. They also want their families to be safe.
Rep. O'Rourke also speaks about the immigration legislation which he introduced, as well as the short 5-month time frame Congress has to come up with a fix for DACA. If a fix is not agreed upon by March, 800,000 Dreamers will be at risk of losing their homes in the U.S.
We speak with the Congressman about his fight to take on Ted Cruz for his Senate seat in 2018. Rep. O'Rourke has come under scrutiny for his decision to leave the House and try for the Senate in a state that tends to lean Republican. He discusses why he believes his policies on healthcare and job creation are better for the people of Texas. He says he's excited to be part of the historic race, taking on a multi-term Senator like Cruz.
Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke encourages "Dreamers" to up the ante and continue to create conversation around DACA. He says great things don't just come from Congress, but through protests.
