Target: Susan Collins, Chair of Senate Committee on Appropriations
Goal: Fund citizenship processing to prevent obstacles aimed at financially disadvantaged prospects.
The United States is celebrating its 250th anniversary. Throughout these two-and-a-half centuries – beginning with the very first European settlers – millions of people have traveled to this country to fulfill the dream of becoming American citizens. History has proven the USA is a nation of immigrants. But current leaders are throwing up yet more roadblocks to keep individuals and families from fulfilling their dreams.
A new proposal from the Trump administration would raise the filing fees to begin obtaining citizenship by over eighty percent. The price increase would put citizenship out of reach for countless lower-income individuals, who will also no longer have the benefit of fee waivers or financial assistance. Fees will likewise be raised significantly for appeals and for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) permit holders, while at the same time restrictions continue to be eased or outright erased for wealthier white Africans. People already legally residing and working in the U.S. as green card holders and who aspire to become full citizens stand to be most impacted.
Officials claim they are raising fees to cover processing costs. Sign the petition below to urge Congress to take this justification away by funding the American citizenship process.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Senator Collins,
Congress sets aside a portion of the federal budget for numerous endeavors, but it has remained silent on the one endeavor arguably more fundamental to the American experience than any other: U.S. citizenship. This legislative body’s refusal to invest in a process that millions of ancestors have undergone – a process that literally built the nation itself – is perplexing. Furthermore, it has given executive officials license to freeze financially struggling applicants out of the process, as evidenced by the proposed raising of citizenship filing fees upwards 80 percent of their current rate.
On its birthday, honor this land of immigrants and its indelible legacy of accessibility and openness by making a decisive investment in Americans of the future: individuals who chose this country and its possibilities as their home. Do not take away their dream and render the words carved on the Statue of Liberty meaningless. Make them matter.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: GlacierNPS
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