Leading Immigrant Rights Organizations have filed a Lawsuit against Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Chad Wolf, and his Acting Deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, over their Finalized Rule that Jacks Up U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Naturalization Fees and shamefully makes the U.S. one of the Handful of Countries forcing Asylum-Seekers Fleeing for their Lives to Pay a Fee for Protections, and seek an Emergency Block before it goes into effect in October.
The Groups say that the Rule is Not just Cruel, it’s been Unlawful from the get-go because of a Recent Report from the Nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding both Wolf and Cuccinelli, who Remain Unconfirmed, were Unlawfully Installed in their Positions at DHS., Which means that since they’re Not even Supposed to be there in the First Place, their Unlawful Policies should be Thrown Out as well.
Naturally for this Administration, the Rule is Devastating to Families: “The rule raises fees for many essential immigration benefit requests by 30 to 266 percent, while eliminating most fee waivers for qualifying low-income immigrants,” said the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and Law Firm of Sidley Austin LPP, which Sued on behalf of a Number of Organizations.
“DHS’s Fee Rule has been widely condemned for its exclusionary impact on vulnerable immigrant families, and particularly people of color. DHS has made the cost of obtaining citizenship prohibitively high for millions of eligible permanent residents,” the Groups continued. But the Cruelty doesn’t end there: “Through establishing the nation’s first-ever fee for asylum seekers, the Trump administration has also made the United States just one of four countries in the world to impose such a fee on people fleeing dangerous situations.”
The USCIS Rule, the Groups write in the Lawsuit, “is unlawful because it was proposed under Kevin McAleenan and issued under Chad Wolf, both of whom assumed the title of Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security without constitutional or statutory authority. The Final Rule is therefore void and without effect under the Homeland Security Act, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution. It is also procedurally invalid and contrary to law under the APA. On this basis alone, the Final Rule should be set aside.”
But Unlawful Chad and Ken have Defiantly Refused to budge from the positions they’re not supposed to be in, even as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) has called for their Resignations. “President Trump illegally appointed anti-immigrant white nationalists to run @DHSgov by going around Congress,” tweeted Chair Joaquin Castro (D-TX, 20th District). “From dismantling the immigration system to tear-gassing peaceful protestors, their authority is illegitimate. Wolf and Cuccinelli must be removed immediately.” In any other job, they would have been Dragged Out by Security. But in a Trump Administration, Unconfirmed Officials get to Accuse Others of Lawlessness while Tweeting from their Unlawfully Designated Positions.
“The Administration’s dramatic fee increases will immediately devastate vulnerable populations and our organizational plaintiffs who serve them,” said AILA’s Jesse Bless. “The planned fee hikes and unprecedented fee to apply for asylum, including an 83% increase for naturalization applications, place an unlawful barrier in the way of individuals eligible for immigration benefits. These wealth tests belong in the dustbin of history.”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
