Saw this from shusterman.com:
Of special concern is funding for refugees and asylees. The Homeland Security Act includes a provision that requires INS to remove from its processing fee structure the surcharge to cover asylum and refugee applications and fee waivers. The sponsors included this provision in the Act to force Congress to directly appropriate funds to INS/DHS to cover those activities. However, that appropriation has not taken place.
Because this provision takes effect in late January, INS soon will be faced with a drastic shortfall in revenue, with no available funds to make up the difference. Without this appropriation, INS is left with two choices, both of which are bad: laying off personnel from the Benefits operation (leading to further backlogs in an already desperate set of backlogs) or eliminating fee waivers and charging fees (which will need to be quite high) for refugee and asylum applicants who are least able to pay such unwaivable fees.
Of special concern is funding for refugees and asylees. The Homeland Security Act includes a provision that requires INS to remove from its processing fee structure the surcharge to cover asylum and refugee applications and fee waivers. The sponsors included this provision in the Act to force Congress to directly appropriate funds to INS/DHS to cover those activities. However, that appropriation has not taken place.
Because this provision takes effect in late January, INS soon will be faced with a drastic shortfall in revenue, with no available funds to make up the difference. Without this appropriation, INS is left with two choices, both of which are bad: laying off personnel from the Benefits operation (leading to further backlogs in an already desperate set of backlogs) or eliminating fee waivers and charging fees (which will need to be quite high) for refugee and asylum applicants who are least able to pay such unwaivable fees.
