Khadija

The following is from a e-newsletter I subscribe to from ILW.com:

USCIS
To Jack Up Fees

USCIS has proposed to increase its application fees by
approximately $55 per application across-the-board. USCIS suggests that
the additional fees will help in reducing the current massive
immigration benefits processing backlogs. However, the non-fee i.e. taxpayer-
funded component of immigrants benefit processing is being cut by over
40% from the previous year. Based on the current administration
proposal, over 91% of the costs of the glacially slow benefits
processing will be borne by the long suffering immigrant and employer
community.

We believe that immigration contributes to America's
economic strength and that it is to the American taxpayer's financial
advantage to pay for benefits processing. Indeed, President Bush's
legalization proposal is premised on the principle of immigrants'
contribution to America. It is therefore ironic that his Administration
is proposing drastically reducing the taxpayer support for this critical
component of our future economic security. That this is happening with
the background of enormous and unjustified processing delays simply rubs
salt into the wound. We call upon Congress to do the right thing and
abolish all immigration benefit processing fees and substitute them with
general taxpayer funds.

We welcome readers to share their opinion and
ideas with us and other readers by writing to: mailto:
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Patty Khadijah