By Nelson A. King
Brooklyn Sen. Zellnor Y.
Myrie has submitted comments
strongly condemning
the Trump administration’s
proposed fee increases for
immigration services at the US
Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS), stating that
the increases represent the
administration’s latest attack
on immigrant communities.
“As the New York State Senator
for the 20th Senatorial
District in Brooklyn, I write to
express my strong opposition
to the proposed increase in the
naturalization application fee
(Form N-400), and elimination
of fee waivers for various types
of citizenship forms, which
would have the compound
effect of greatly reducing naturalization
and limiting American
prosperity,” said Myrie,
whose grandmother hails from
Jamaica, in a letter on Thursday
to Samantha Deshommes,
chief, Regulatory Coordination
Division, Office of Policy and
Strategy, USCIS.
“These substantial increases
in fees would have a significant
impact on the people I represent
since, according to Census
data, 64,184 people in my
district are eligible to become
naturalized citizens,” added
Myrie, whose district in Central
Brooklyn predominantly comprises
Caribbean immigrants.
“I am alarmed at the devastating
effect the proposed 83 percent
increase in the naturalization
fee would have on our
community.”
Under this proposal, the
fee to file an application for a
Certificate of Citizenship for
the N-600 would increase by
US$530, from its current cost
of $640, to US$1,170.
Application renewal fees for
Deferred Action for Childhood
Action (DACA) recipients would
also increase from US$495 to
US$765.
In addition, the proposal
would eliminate fee waivers for
most forms of citizenship applications,
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Caribbean L 18 ife, December 20-26, 2019
“despite the fact that
one third of applicants seek fee
waivers,” Myrie said.
He also said that the proposal
“attacks basic humanitarian
rights, as those seeking
to apply for asylum would be
forced to pay a fee of US$50.”
“These proposed fee hikes
will have devastating effects
on our immigrant communities,
especially those who
come from low-income households
and struggle to make
ends meet,” the senator wrote
in his letter to Deshommes.
“The administration’s proposed
actions will do direct harm to
immigrant communities, and
are only the latest in a record
of harmful and discriminatory
immigration policies.
“This is a blatant attack on
our immigrant community
and penalizes those who come
from low-income household,”
he said. “Charging ever-higher
fees for naturalization means
limiting our potential by preventing
many hundreds of
thousands of lawful permanent
residents (LPRs) from applying
for citizenship.”
Brooklyn Democratic Sen. Zellnor Y. Myrie.
https://www.nysenate.gov
Myrie pointed to research,
which, he said, has demonstrated
that past naturalization
fee increases have been
“a significant barrier to eligible
LPRs, and, as a result, the
number of immigrants eligible
to naturalize has grown to
nearly 9 million.”
“Naturalization is important
and beneficial to all Americans
and to New York State in particular,”
he wrote. “When legal
permanent resident immigrants
are afforded the opportunity
to become citizens, they
become more able to contribute
to their communities and
society as a whole. They are
afforded greater economic stability
through expanded professional
opportunities that bring
the potential to elevate their
income.
Myrie condemns proposed
immigration fee hikes
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