Inflation Comes to Immigration

[justaprogressive]

If Donald Trump’s goal is to strain the immigration system to such a point that it merely serves as an avenue for the fast-tracking of deportations, he is certainly making headway. The barriers have been piling up: ending bond hearings for undocumented immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally, kidnapping people at their immigration court hearings and places of work, entrapping new arrivals who fail to register with the government, and imposing significant penalties on those who do not comply with removal orders.

In an added twist, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which unlocks unprecedented levels of funding for immigration enforcement and border security, creates a fiscal minefield of onerous processing fees and penalties. Most of these fees are new and cannot be waived, and the goal is not necessarily to mitigate the government’s giant budget deficit, but to price migrants out of entering or staying in the country, even legally.

For instance, seeking asylum—a legal right under U.S. and international law—now comes with a $100 price tag, and pending applications will cost asylum seekers $100 per year. As the National Immigration Law Center argues, the annual fee functionally punishes asylum seekers “for government-imposed processing backlogs.”

The list goes on. Initial work permits for asylum applicants are now accompanied by a $550 fee; the current renewal fee to replace expiring work permits was lowered from $520 to $275. Existing fees were also bumped up significantly; the $50 fee to register for Temporary Protected Status is now $500. The border-crossing penalty was increased from a $250 maximum to a $5,000 minimum. Anyone apprehended between ports of entry must pay the fine, including asylum seekers.

https://prospect.org/justice/2025-07-31-inflation-comes-to-immigration/]

[MichMan]

1. How much typically do coyotes and cartels charge immigrants?