SEVERAL developments in immigration occurred this week, beginning with the possibility of raising the cost of acquiring US citizenship, if immigration reform pushes through.
The current cost of filing for naturalization (or US citizenship) is $680. But according to a report from the Associated Press (AP), immigration reform could push the cost to spike up to $2,680,as some proposals call for imposed fines of $2,000 on top of application fees.
“Republican supporters of the proposed fines say penalties are necessary to defend against any appearance that creating a pathway to citizenship amounts to amnesty,” reported AP.
Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies Mark Krikorian (a Washington-based think tank which supports tighter immigration controls) if undocumented immigrants would be allowed to seek citizenship, “they should have to pay the costs, which will increase if millions of applications need to be processed.”
However, Krikorian also said that the costs should not be unreasonably high that people would not be able to afford them.
The current cost at $680 is already a tall order for most low-income legal immigrants.
But a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented may not even see the light of day, as House Speaker John Boehner ruled out the possibility of immigration reform happening this year on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConell (R-Ky.) also echoed the same sentiment.
According to McConnell, there is an “irresolvable conflict” between the Senate and the House on the issue.
Last week, Boehner and other Republicans in the lower house “unveiled broad principles for immigration changes, including legal status for the estimated 11 million immigrants living here illegally, tougher border security and a shot at citizenship for children brought to the country illegally,” reports AP.
Now it seems that the tide has turned.
“The American people, including many of our members, don’t trust that the reform we’re talking about will be implemented as it was intended to be,” Boehner told reporters at his weekly news conference.
“The president seems to change the health care law on a whim, whenever he likes. Now, he is running around the country telling everyone he’s going to keep acting on his own,” added Boehner.
Legal Permanent Residents (LPR) eligible for naturalization, are facing yet another hurdle to achieving their American Dream.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a change to the N-400 form (the citizenship application form). The form has been expanded to 21 pages and will require additional information from aspiring US citizens.
According to Advancing Justice – LA, the new form will be used beginning May 2, 2014. The draft was released in December 2012 “in order to solicit comments and suggestions from organizations like Advancing Justice – LA.”
“Unfortunately, it appears that little to none of those comments were adopted and the finalized form remains mostly unchanged from the original draft,” said Advancing Justice-LA.
The new N-400 “will now require applicants to provide additional personal information about their parents, spouses, and children, and will also include approximately 30 additional questions regarding an applicants’ eligibility for naturalization. The additional questions are required based on laws passed by Congress in 2004 during the Bush administration,” said Advancing Justice – LA further.
Because of this development, organizations like Advancing Justice – LA and New America Media (NAM) are actively encouraging Legal Permanent Residents, who are eligible for naturalization, to file their citizenship before May 2014.
Advancing Justice – LA will be offering weekly clinics every Friday with assistance in multiple languages.
NAM, on the other hand, has launched The New Americans Campaign (“a nationwide collaborative working on innovative ways to help green card holders become citizens, plans to counteract the form change with dozens of citizenship workshops nationwide in the coming months,” according to NAM.)
Executive Director of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center Eric Cohen is calling on green card holders eligible for naturalization to act at the earliest possible time.
“Green card holders have a 90 day window where they can use the old form—and the New Americans Campaign will hold dozens of free citizenship assistance events nationwide to make sure as many people as possible apply for citizenship before the change. For those green card holders waiting to take the critical step of becoming citizens, there’s no better time than now.”
Indeed, there is no better time for aspiring US citizens to achieve their American Dream: to be able to exercise their right to vote, and to have a voice in crucial national issues, such as immigration.
(AJPress)
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