WASHINGTON, DC -- The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund issued the following statement in response to the announcement that two labor organizations filed suit today in the Federal District Court of Oregon to challenge the increase in the fees for starting the naturalization process recently implemented by the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Service.

“The NALEO Educational Fund supports the Immigrant Law Group of Oregon’s lawsuit filed today on behalf of its plaintiffs, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste – Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United (PCUN), against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the exorbitant increase in the fee for naturalization that was implemented on July 30th by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).   This fee increase has put U.S. citizenship beyond the reach of many of our nation’s newcomers as the fees for starting the naturalization process have soared from $400 to $675, an increase of 69%.  In general, the lawsuit claims that the increases are more of a tax to raise revenues rather than a fee to recover costs; and that USCIS used improper administrative and accounting assumptions in calculating the increases.

We believe that our system for funding immigration services should be a partnership where applicants pay a reasonable fee for quality service.  We call on the President and Congress to address the fundamental problems in this system by providing appropriations to supplement fee revenue to cover costs of major USCIS expenses such as infrastructure investments, process enhancements and capital improvements.

The NALEO Educational Fund will continue to advocate vigorously for remedies that address the fundamental flaws in our nation’s system of financing immigration services.  The USCIS is supposed to set fees at a level that it will allow it to recover the costs of processing applications.  However, the agency’s exorbitant increase places an unfair burden on hardworking eligible legal permanent residents who wish to become U.S. citizens and participate fully in all our nation has to offer.  If they cannot become U.S. citizens because of an unfair fee hike, we may all lose an opportunity to strengthen and revitalize our democracy.  The $675 price tag is too high for our newcomers, and ultimately, our whole nation will have to pay the price.”