Trump is trying to make it too expensive for poor American immigrants to stay

Annalisa Merellii on Quartz notes that many of the Trump administration’s immigration policies have made headlines worldwide: family separation, zero tolerance, detained children, to name a few. But not all of Trump’s efforts to restrict immigration have been so dramatic. In many cases, the administration has chipped away at the avenues for immigration through small bureaucratic changes, like the proposal to increase fees for various immigration benefits. such as petitions for naturalization.

On Nov. 14, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a review of the fees required to apply for various immigration services. The proposal is open for comments until Dec. 16. After that, if the new fees are confirmed, they will become effective immediately.

The changes affect a range of applications, from green cards through marriage, to naturalization fees, to DACA renewals.

The new fee structure would also introduce a $50 fee for asylum applications, which would make the United States one of just a handful of countries—including Iran, Australia and Fiji—that don’t offer free asylum applications.

KJ