[Washington, DC: Raul Yzaguirre, President of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights organization in the U.S., made the following statement regarding recent increases in application fees for immigration services]

This week the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new fee structure for immigration benefit applications and petitions as well as for capturing biometric information of those who apply for certain immigration benefits. The new fees, which will go into effect on April 30, will increase by as much as $60 per application.

These fee increases mean that immigrants and U.S. citizens are being asked to pay larger fees for applications at the same time that they are experiencing a deterioration in the timeliness and quality of the services they receive. Due to inadequate resources, countless American families are languishing in USCIS processing backlogs waiting to be reunited with immediate family members. A January 2004 General Accounting Office report claims that 6.2 million applications for immigration benefits are pending as of September 2003. This constitutes a 59% increase in the last two years.

These severe backlogs have real effects on American families. For example, U.S. citizens who petition for unmarried children over 21 years old from Mexico must wait as long as nine years to be reunited. Legal permanent residents from Mexico who petition for their immediate family members (spouses and minor unmarried children) may wait as long as seven years. Furthermore, noncitizens awaiting visa extensions and other immigration services are left vulnerable to immigration enforcement agents while their papers are being processed. The poor and slow service has potentially far-reaching effects on people who find themselves out of status due to inefficiencies at USCIS. Moreover, the exorbitant fees place an unfair and unreasonable burden on persons seeking U.S. citizenship and other immigration services. Many immigrants will not be able to afford the increased fees.

NCLR strongly believes that the USCIS fills a very important function for the Latino community and the entire immigrant community and, as such, we believe USCIS must receive adequate funding to perform its vital functions. However, increased fees are not justified in the current context of processing backlogs and poor service. It is also clear to us that fee increases alone will not resolve the financial problems faced by USCIS and will not result in better service. Congress must appropriate direct funds to supplement the user fees. We call upon Congress and the Administration to look beyond application fees and work together to ensure that the important work of USCIS be adequately funded and that the services USCIS provides be improved.

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