SAN DIEGO (AP) – The director of the U.S. agency that issues citizenship and visas said the agency is recovering from a financial crisis and is currently weighing the possibility of imposing new fees, so that legal immigration is not solely accessible “to the wealthiest,” a veiled critique of the policies pursued under former President Donald Trump.
USCIS, whose annual operations run about $5 billion, is financed almost entirely by the fees it charges for its services. The end-of-year reserves for the fiscal year that closed on September 30 stood at roughly $1.5 billion — “where we want to be,” USCIS Director Ur Jaddou said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The hiring freeze, spending cuts and the end of the biometrics requirement for renewals— introduced in March 2020— helped the agency’s finances, Jaddou noted.
“Yes, I understand what the problems were and how they were ‘solved,’ and I say that with air quotes because our situation remains unstable, but we’re still fairly solid,” the official added.
Officials from the Trump administration attributed the agency’s recovery to higher fees collected during the pandemic and the cancellation of some contracts.
USCIS, which also handles asylum determinations and the resettlement of refugees, is probably less visible than other Homeland Security agencies, like the Border Patrol, but it is an indispensable pillar of the immigration system. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat who represented a Miami-area district at the time, told a hearing on USCIS finances last year that about 70% of the calls to her office were related to USCIS matters.
The Trump administration pushed sweeping changes at the agency, expanding its fraud-investigation unit and enforcing a policy that every immigrant had to be economically self-sufficient in order to remain in the country.
Fees charged to wealthier applicants typically subsidize other services, such as asylum, which do not generate revenue. The Biden administration has pledged to overhaul the agency’s fee structure.
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