Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the Chair of the House Immigration Subcommittee who has quickly gained a reputation for holding USCIS' feet to the fire to deliver good service to its customers, has taken on the USCIS over the fee increase that went in to effect yesterday by introducing legislation to force USCIS to reverse course. Lofgren issued the following press release in connection with the bill:
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) today introduced a bill to void the recent increases in immigration fees by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The bill would void the new fee structure set to take effect today and reinstate the previous fee structure. The bill also states that USCIS has consistently failed to reduce application backlogs and has suffered from a lack of transparency and effective management.
“Our immigration services need to move into the 21st century,” stated Rep. Zoe Lofgren. “But, USCIS has consistently failed to explain or justify the amounts and distributions of this new fee increase. While I agree that USCIS needs to modernize its existing infrastructure and procedures, they must do so in a transparent and open manner. After repeated requests over several months, USCIS has yet to provide Congress with a detailed plan for its infrastructure modernization efforts. Our immigration system should be both effective and fair; sacrificing one to achieve the other should not be an option.”