Senators Cortez Masto, Hirono, Colleagues Raise Alarms About Increased Naturalization Fees

Las Vegas, Nev. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and 10 of their Democratic Senate colleagues in pressing the Trump Administration on their recent proposed rule to increase naturalization fees and remove reduced fee options and fee waivers for those attempting to become citizens. In a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph B. Edlow, the senators raised alarms about how the proposed fee increases would limit citizenship for thousands of immigrants.

"USCIS's actions have repeatedly increased the burden of and difficulty in obtaining U.S. citizenship," wrote the senators. "Naturalization is a critical pathway to immigrant integration, civic engagement, and democratic participation, yet your agency's actions represent a significant departure from these values."

Under the Trump Administration's proposed rule, immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship would face hundreds of dollars of fee increases. Immigrants seeking a hearing on naturalization proceedings would also face an up to 83 percent fee increase. Additionally, the proposed rule eliminates preexisting reduced-fee options and fee waivers, designed to help immigrants achieve citizenship no matter their financial status. In their letter, the senators highlighted how the proposed rule burdens the pathway to citizenship without providing clear guidance about how access will be preserved for immigrants who are unable to meet the increased financial threshold.

"While your agency asserts that the increased fees are necessary to recover the full cost of adjudicating naturalization applications and to support enhanced screening and vetting measures, it fails to address the increased fees' deterrent effect on eligible applicants, particularly those from low-income communities," the senators continued.

Despite the Trump Administration's consistent claims that it supports legal immigration, the senators highlighted how the naturalization fee increase will have the opposite effect. In addition to the proposed fees, UCSIS has also increased the difficulty of the civics test required to become citizens and eliminated the Citizenship Integration and Grant Program designed to help immigrants navigate the process.

In their letter, the senators demanded prompt responses to explain the agency's methodology when electing to increase naturalization fees, the anticipated impact of these fee increases on lawful permanent residents' abilities to become naturalized citizens, and the changes in the naturalization process that necessitated the increased fees.

In addition to Senators Hirono and Cortez Masto, the letter was signed by Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).

The full letter can be found here.

The first and only Latina Senator, Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada. Last month, she introduced the Fairness for Immigrant Families Act, a set of commonsense proposals aimed at fixing America's broken immigration system and setting up a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who have spent decades living in and contributing to this country. Cortez Masto has worked to pass meaningful immigration reform that balances critical border security measures with a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Earlier this month, the Senator attended and spoke at a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens at the Sand Harbor Amphitheater at Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

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