In the past two months, there has been chatter of filing fee increases in the USCIS. The new rule would increase some of the filing fees by double the original amount and in some cases by 80%. This had many immigrants worried about how they would pay for their petitions. These new fees were to go into effect on October 2, 2020, but were temporarily blocked by a federal judge. On September 29, 2020, U.S. District Judge Jeffry S. White granted a preliminary injunction to prevent USCIS from enforcing the new rule.
As long as the preliminary injunction is in place, USCIS does not have the authority to raise fees. This Injunction has been put into effect nationwide and there is no telling when or if it is going to be lifted. Judge White had argued that DHS had not done their diligence when it came to research on what impact the price increase would have on the applicants. It proves that they didn’t take into consideration what the fee increase would do to low-income families and or to applicants that are still struggling with the effects of the pandemic.
When this case was brought before the judge, he sided with the plaintiffs as they had met their burden to show that the public interest to file an injunction is what was best. Although the Trump Administration requested a brief administrative stay, the request was rejected, noting that a stay past the point of October 2nd would already put the final rule into effect.