Trump Administration Imposes $1,000 Fee on Immigrants Seeking Parole

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ rate of application processing has recently dropped by more than half.

A group of migrants walk along the border in a remote part of the Arizona desert.

Ross D. Franklin/AP

Immigrants paroled into the United States will have to start paying $1,000 as part of a provision from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending package that goes into effect Thursday.

The measure is aimed at immigrants requesting temporary permission to enter and live in the U.S. while they seek an avenue to remain in the country lawfully. It also comes as parole approval is sharply declining and pending applications accumulate.

From April through June, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 73% of the parole requests it processed, compared to 82% during the same time frame last year, according to the agency’s latest data. The predominantly bureaucratic agency has made efforts to expand its immigration enforcement operations during the second Trump administration.