Dear Editor:
I have to respectfully disagree with your position on immigration
processing fees. While it is true that immigration in general benefits
U.S. society more than it detracts, the ones who benefit most are the
immigrants themselves. If that weren't true, they wouldn't be trying so
desperately to get into and stay in the United States. If we apply your
reasoning to, say, driver's licences, the logic falls apart. Obviously it
is in society's interest to require people to pass knowledge and abilities
tests before giving them permission to drive on public roads, but we don't
hear anyone arguing that the license testing and issuance procedure should
be free of charge. The person who wants that driver's license is the party
who will most benefit from his/her obtaining that license, and thus it
stands to reason that he/she should be willing to pay the twenty bucks or
so that their state government charges to cover its costs. It also stands
to reason that a foreign national who wants permission to live in the
United States should be willing to pay reasonable processing fees that
cover at least part of the government's costs. (Granted, that foreigner
has the right to expect reasonable turnaround times for processing his/her
application, but we'll have to fry that fish some other day.) In the
meantime, I see nothing wrong with hopeful immigrants being exposed early
on to the American 'pay-your-own-way' mentality, since they are the ones
who stand to benefit the most from the procedures paid for in part by the
processing fees they are charged.
Marc W. Mellin
Naranjo, Costa Rica
Copyright © 1999-2002 American Immigration LLC, ILW.COM
|
Add to del.icio.us