Judge Wary of Trump Fee Hike for Migrants Seeking Citizenship

(Bloomberg) -- A federal judge questioned the Trump administration’s elimination of a poverty waiver from the $725 fee for naturalization applications after immigration advocacy groups complained that a new rule will bar thousands of immigrants from pursuing U.S. citizenship.

The advocacy groups asked U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney in San Francisco to block the rule. She indicated at a hearing Monday that the groups have shown they’ll be harmed because they don’t have the resources to interact with clients one-on-one, and would probably be precluded from handling them in workshops.

“They’re going to have to spend more time on each application,” Chesney said. “That doesn’t seem speculative.”

Monday’s court showdown is the latest over the Trump administration’s creation of rules that make it harder for low-income people to qualify for legal residency in the U.S.

A new Department of Homeland Security rule to screen out immigrants deemed at risk of becoming dependent on government benefits was blocked nationwide in October by a New York federal judge who called it “repugnant to the American Dream.” In November, a federal judge in Oregon put on hold a rule requiring that immigrants prove they will have health insurance or can pay for medical care before they can get visas.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg

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