Immigrant Advocates Challenge Fee Increases

By Colin Fogarty | Aug. 29, 2007 9:34 a.m. | Updated: June 17, 2010 12:05 a.m. | Portland, OR

An Oregon farm worker union is a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that challenges new immigration fees. Colin Fogarty reports.
At the end of July, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services raised its fees by an average of 66%. For example, the fee to apply for citizenship went from $400 to $675. Now, the Service Employees International Union has filed a lawsuit saying the fee increases were illegal. The union has nearly 2 million members nationwide. The other party in the lawsuit is the Oregon-based farm worker union PCUN. The group's president, Ramon Ramirez, spoke from a cucumber field. Ramon Ramirez: "They increased the fees under the pretexts that they were going to improve services. And the service, to tell you the truth, that immigrants have gotten over the last several years, is really bad." The increases are expected to raise more than a billion dollars a year for US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency has said it's required to cover its costs with the fees collected from the hundreds of thousands of foreigners who seek residency and citizenship each year.

© 2007 OPB

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