A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the increase in several fees for different immigration procedures of the Immigration and Citizenship Service (USCIS) that were to take effect on Friday, October 2.
For the moment,
the rates remain the same.
District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, alleged that the last two heads of the Department of Homeland Security
were
likely
illegally named
.
[ICE plans arrests in 'sanctuary' cities next month, according to reports. What is known?]
White found that Kevin McAleenan was improperly catapulted into the role of acting secretary when Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in April 2019.
When do the new immigration fees go into effect?
Nov. 28, 201903: 13
He also noted that the promotion of Chad Wolf, who became the acting secretary after McAleenan's resignation in November 2019, was not justified.
White, appointed by former President George W. Bush, also blocked the rate hike, claiming that the Donald Trump administration probably
did not justify its decision as required by federal law.
["For us he has become rich," says Latina worker about Trump's tax return]
Trump nominated Wolf for the secretary job on September 10, but the Senate has yet to confirm the position.
New Rates
On July 31, USCIS announced that it will apply an average increase of
20% in its rates as
of October 2
, but that in some cases it will reach
535%
.
The agency justified the increases to finance its operations.
One of the processes most affected by the new increase is the naturalization process, which would go from
640 to 1,170 dollars
, a figure to which the payment of the biometric data process must be added.
The suspension of deportation would go from $ 285 to $ 1,525, which represents an increase of 535%.
Applications for work permits would increase from $ 410 to $ 550, or 34%.
Asylum seekers, who do not pay a fee as they are financed for the rest of the procedures for humanitarian reasons, was going to cost 50 dollars for the first time.
In addition to the increases, the rule eliminated most pay waivers for qualifying low-income immigrants.
[Congressmen visit the ICE center with reports of sterilizations: "It seems that the stories are true"]
"With the new tariff rule, the Trump Administration has shown its willingness to ignore the rule of law in pursuit of its anti-immigrant and xenophobic agenda," warned Melissa Rodgers, ILRC's director of programs.
During the notice and comment period, many criticized the government for not explaining how it calculated its costs, among other criticisms.
Rodgers underscored that by failing to address the rule's obviously flawed revenue model projections, the Trump Administration has not only undermined its own legal basis for finalizing the rule, but has contradicted USCIS leaders' own statements to Congress on the financial situation of the agency.
With information from AP and Efe.
