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Immigrants Dread Fee Increases

Immigrants fight a proposed rate hike. Citizenship papers could become more costly. In some cases, doubling or tripling the cost for a green card or citizenship.

LSAT test books show law school may be in Julio Ibarra's future. He says you just about have to be a lawyer to figure out a backlogged immigration system.

"There are people who waited to some degree up to 14 years," he said.

Ibarra's business assists people with government forms. But soon the federal filing fees could go up.

"Double to some of them, triple to some of them," Ibarra said.

And that could be deadly.

Ibarra said, "To become a U.S. citizen right now it costs roughly $400. With the newer prices, if approved, it's going to go to $800 to $900."

The immigration system has undergone an overhaul. It was ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement that carried out the Swift raids. Now a separate agency handles citizenship.

That Citizenship and Immigration Service insists a fee hike will improve sluggish service. But many disagree.

"I believe it's going to be a burden to a lot of people," Ibarra said.

It's possible to get those fees waived on the grounds of poverty, but Ibarra says the catch-22 is the government many deny papers for the poor. And more of his clients will feel poor if fees increase.

He said, "We have a lot of people with two or three jobs to make ends meet, a lot of single parents with children. Basically it's a lot of money."

The proposed rate hike is still up for debate.

"We hope and pray it will not be approved," Ibarra said.

Groups supporting the rate hike say it makes sense. They argue it's a user fee, and those applying for a green card or citizenship should be the ones paying, not taxpayers. Some think it'll cut down on the number of people applying for citizenship.

Reporter's Notes by Steve White:
The proposal is open to public comment at this time. It will be some time until new fees are approved.

Ibarra said the government regularly increases the fees because of inflation. He said past increases were reasonable. He said this increase is too high. The government says it's about modernizing the system to speed up the process, but Ibarra said most don't think the fee hike will improve the situation.



Story Created: Mar 2, 2007 at 6:21 PM CST

Story Updated: Mar 2, 2007 at 9:51 PM CST