Big Immigration Impact Could Come From Modest Deficit Proposal

A line item tucked away in the fiscal year 2020 budget proposal could have an impact far beyond the deficit reduction it’s meant to achieve.

The White House fiscal year 2020 budget proposes a 10 percent “immigration services surcharge” that would apply to all requests to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that runs the legal immigration system. The proposed surcharge, which would add to the fees already collected for visa applications, also was proposed last year.

The surcharge, if implemented, is projected to reduce the federal deficit by $466 million in the first year, and by $570 million ...