Sign this petition re: asylum-seekers

Add your name to call on the Trump administration and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to stop making it nearly impossible for asylum-seekers to get asylum in the United States.

Sign this petition demanding U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services roll back its new policy of charging asylum-seeker fees for applications.

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

The Trump administration announced that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start charging asylum-seekers a fee to apply for refuge in the United States.¹

The global community created asylum, a legal process that allows someone who feels their life is in danger to seek refuge in safer countries, in reaction to the Holocaust. Asylum laws are supposed to ensure that no one else fleeing persecution in their home country is turned away when seeking refuge.²

An officer working for USCIS said that "humanitarian applications by their nature should be free. The idea of charging people who are fleeing — and not helping if they don't pay up — is disgusting."³

Will you sign the petition calling on the Trump administration and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to roll back the agency's new policy of charging asylum-seekers a burdensome application fee? 

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will charge asylum-seekers—many of whom are fleeing poverty in their home countries—a fee to apply for protections and refuge in the United States.

This fee will make it difficult, if not impossible, for many asylum-seekers to apply for refuge in the U.S.

USCIS must immediately roll back this immoral policy.

In addition to the $50 application fee, USCIS will also charge asylum applicants $490 to apply for an employment authorization document.⁴

This move by the USCIS under Donald Trump is the latest attempt to target and deny refuge to people who are fleeing poverty, persecution, and violence in their home countries.

Click here to add your name to this petition calling on the Trump administration and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to stop making it nearly impossible for asylum-seekers to get asylum in the United States.

Thanks!

–Andrew Martinez

Sources:

1. "The Trump Administration Will Start Charging Immigrants Fees For Applying For Asylum," BuzzFeed News, July 31, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/141658?t=11&akid=270544%2E10220574%2EFKRaXz

2. "Immigration 101: What is Asylum?" America's Voice, February 10, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/141660?t=13&akid=270544%2E10220574%2EFKRaXz

3. "The Trump Administration Will Start Charging Immigrants Fees For Applying For Asylum," BuzzFeed News, July 31, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/141658?t=15&akid=270544%2E10220574%2EFKRaXz

4. "New USCIS Immigration Fees Hit Businesses, Citizens And Students," Forbes, August 3, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/141659?t=17&akid=270544%2E10220574%2EFKRaXz

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