Summary (tl;dr)

The Trump administration proposed a substantial increase to the fees for U.S. citizenship applications, particularly the N-400 naturalization form, and sought to eliminate fee waivers for low-income applicants, drawing significant public and legal opposition.

Essential Background

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the federal agency responsible for processing immigration and naturalization applications in the United States. Unlike many other government bodies, USCIS primarily funds its operations through the fees it collects from applicants for various immigration benefits. The Form N-400 is the application used by eligible lawful permanent residents to become naturalized U.S. citizens. During its term, the Trump administration pursued a range of policies aimed at tightening immigration regulations and processes.

The Full Story

In 2020, under the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, put forth a proposed rule that would have drastically increased the fees for numerous immigration applications, including a significant hike for the N-400 Application for Naturalization. Specifically, the proposal aimed to raise the fee for a paper citizenship application by 75%, from $760 to $1,330, and the online application by 80%, from $710 to $1,280. A key part of the proposal was also the elimination of fee waivers and reduced-fee options, which had previously been available to individuals facing financial hardship, marking a departure from prior policies that often encouraged naturalization through lower costs.

The administration justified these proposed increases by stating they were necessary to achieve "full cost recovery" for processing applications, including enhanced screening and vetting efforts, and to implement a "beneficiary-pays" model, reducing the reliance on cross-subsidization from other immigration benefit fees. However, this proposed rule did not take effect as planned. It faced considerable public pushback and was ultimately challenged in federal courts, which issued preliminary injunctions blocking its implementation. The Biden administration subsequently rescinded this Trump-era fee schedule and introduced its own revised fee structure.

Why It Matters

These proposed fee increases were highly contentious because they presented a significant barrier to U.S. citizenship for many lower-income immigrants, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of lawful permanent residents each year. Critics argued that such steep increases and the elimination of fee waivers would undermine the long-standing public policy of promoting naturalization, which is widely recognized for fostering greater economic mobility, civic engagement, and integration into American society. Opponents viewed the move as an attempt to restrict legal immigration and transform U.S. citizenship into a privilege primarily accessible to the wealthy.

Geographic Location

• United States (proposal of new USCIS fee rule by the Department of Homeland Security)
• Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States (location of federal agencies like DHS and USCIS where the rule was proposed and where federal court granted preliminary injunction)
• Northern District of California, United States (federal court that granted a preliminary injunction staying the implementation of the August 2020 Final Rule)