Republicans propose charging US asylum seekers $1,300 per application
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People outside an asylum shelter in New York.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – US Republican lawmakers are seeking to give President Donald Trump broad powers to charge onerous fees to migrants seeking asylum in the United States – suggesting a minimum cost of US$1,000 (S$1,300) per application.
The figure appears among a slew of new or increased immigration charges being considered by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee as the party seeks to usher Mr Trump’s domestic agenda into law.
Around 54,000 foreign nationals were granted asylum in the United States in 2023, according to the latest figures from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics.
The leading countries of origin included Afghanistan – where US$1,000 is the equivalent of 2½ years’ wages – and Venezuela, where it would take about three months on average to earn that much.
“President Trump and House Republicans are committed to restoring immigration integrity, enhancing national security, and reining in the out-of-control administrative state,” the committee said in a statement alongside the release of the text.
Judiciary – like the other budget-setting panels in the House – is contributing its own section to a massive Bill Republicans want to pass to codify Mr Trump’s agenda of tax cuts, immigration curbs and boosted energy production.
Part of the text gives Mr Trump increased powers to charge huge fees to asylum-seekers and other immigration applicants as a condition of remaining in the United States.
The Bill sets a minimum US$1,000 figure in what would be the first time in US history that refugees have been charged to apply for asylum.
Children of immigrants taking part in “homework club” at a community centre at an undisclosed location, Connecticut.
PHOTO: AFP
It would also establish a US$1,000 fee for parolees, a US$550 price tag every six months for work permits and a US$1,500 charge for applying to adjust status to get a green card in front of an immigration judge.
Crucially, Republicans want to impose a giant fee of US$8,500 for anyone wanting to sponsor a child to get them out of federal custody – with US$5,000 returned years later only if the child is not ordered deported for missing court.
“That’s a price that would stop nearly all sponsors,” Mr Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, posted on social media.
The legislation also proposes funding for 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Homeland Security criminal investigators.
It would also fund the transfer of all Federal Trade Commission antitrust actions to the Justice Department, removing a key regulatory power from the independent agency.
The move was proposed in another Bill early in 2025 – and enthusiastically endorsed by Mr Trump’s “efficiency czar”, tech billionaire Elon Musk. AFP
