Overview

• The House Judiciary Committee approved a reconciliation amendment introducing significant new fees for asylum seekers, paroled migrants, and sponsors of unaccompanied minors.
• Asylum applications would incur a $1,000 fee, marking the first time such fees would be imposed in U.S. history, with no waivers available for vulnerable applicants.
• The proposed fees are projected to raise $77 billion over ten years to finance an expanded Trump-era border enforcement and deportation agenda.
• Critics, including immigrant advocates and Democrats, argue that the fees create insurmountable barriers to legal protections and undermine humanitarian principles.
• The amendment will merge with provisions from the Homeland Security Committee into a larger GOP domestic policy package slated for House floor consideration.