As the Biden administration continues to grapple with the high influx of illegal immigrants at the United States’ southern border, USCIS announced a plan to increase fees for legal immigrants applying for permits, visas, and green cards.
You read that right. Biden can’t get control over his border mess so now he’s going to force legal immigrants to pay the price.
This is intended to help alleviate the backlog of asylum cases due to record surges in illegal immigration and raise more revenue for processing these applications. While this move may offer some relief from the backlogs, it also has significant implications for legal immigrants seeking access to the U.S.
The proposed fee increases will affect different types of applicants differently. For instance, H-1B application fees for skilled workers will jump from $60 to $780; fees for non-agricultural workers will jump from $460 to $1080; and fees for green card applicants will jump from $1,140 $1,540.
These steep price hikes may make it difficult or impossible for many would-be legal immigrants to pay such costs out-of-pocket or even obtain loans that cover them–particularly those who come from low-income backgrounds or are already struggling financially due to pandemic-related job losses or other economic issues.
In addition, USCIS predicts that this rule change could bring in an average range of as much as $6.4 billion each year in revenue which is likely not sufficient enough funding considering how large the backlogs have become since last year’s record influx of migrants at our southern border–leaving us wondering if something else needs be done on top of increased fees in order address this issue effectively.
That’s right… The price hike won’t even begin to cover the number of illegal immigrants flooding the US.
It is also concerning that raising fees on lawful applicants does nothing address what many conservatives see as root causes behind today’s overwhelming migration woes such as rampant poverty and violence in Central American countries like Guatemala and El Salvador—which need long-term solutions that do not involve fee hikes alone but rather comprehensive changes within their own societies which can only happen over time with international aid among other things.
Furthermore, while revenues raised by these new rules may help fund efforts towards reducing future backlogs they would still leave plenty yet unresolved since COVID-related budget cuts have already taken their toll on the operations of USCIS resulting in fewer resources available than ever before—making it hard see how additional funds generated by higher fee structures alone can possibly make up what was lost due financial constraints imposed by pandemic restrictions across all industries nationwide.
What kind of Dimwitted solution is this?
