CHIRLA Joins Coalition of Organizations in Suit Over Unlawful Fee Hike

Eight immigrant rights organizations come together to challenge unconscionable new fees that impose a wealth test

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) today joins a coalition of leading immigrant rights organizations in a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and their respective chiefs over the new DHS rule covering fees for citizenship and asylum. The coalition seeks an emergency nationwide injunction to prevent the rule going into effect on October 2, 2020.

“This administration recognizes only privilege and exclusivity, and now it is trying to mold citizenship and asylum into an in-group for the rich,” said Angelica Salas, CHIRLA executive director. “But this is our country, not Trump’s country club — wealth tests should not apply here. This rule targets our community and groups like CHIRLA for helping them. We look forward to proving this in court.”

Members of the coalition are: the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, CHIRLA, the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, OneAmerica, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., East Bay Sanctuary Covenant and the International Rescue Committee.

This fee rule has been widely condemned for excluding immigrant families and people of color. With its 83 percent hike of citizenship fees, USCIS has made its cost too high for millions of eligible immigrants, imposing an unprecedented wealth test for citizenship. With its new fee for asylum seekers, the Trump administration makes the United States the fourth country in the world charging money to protect people fleeing war and political persecution.

In their lawsuit, the coalition noted the fee rule violates congressional intent and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by erecting illegal barriers to citizenship and legal residence in the United States. The rule raises application fees for essential immigration benefits 30–200 percent and cancels most fee waivers for low-income immigrants.

USCIS justified the rule by citing a highly inaccurate projected budget shortfall. The coalition disputes USCIS’ budget model and revenue projections in its lawsuit.

“With DHS’s new fee rule, the Trump administration has demonstrated its willingness to disregard the rule of law in pursuit of its anti-immigrant and xenophobic agenda,” said Melissa Rodgers, director of programs for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. “By failing to address the rule’s obviously flawed revenue modeling projections, the Trump administration has not only undercut its own legal rationale for finalizing the rule, it has contradicted USCIS’ own leaderships’ statements to Congress about the financial conditions of the agency. Once again, the historic racism and bigotry of this administration is matched only by its staggering incompetence.”