Republicans slam DHS fee hikes on farmers to finance asylum system

A group of Republican lawmakers on Tuesday called out the Department of Homeland Security for increasing the fees businesses must pay to bring in migrant workers, which they say makes Americans pay for on ongoing migration surge at the southern border.

The DHS-mandated fee hikes double the existing costs in some instances and further impose a $600-per-visa surcharge, the Washington Times reported. That fee in particular, will reportedly be used to help finance the nation's strained asylum system, which has struggled to handle the influx of asylum seekers arriving at the border.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in January indicated that the fees were an effort to boost funding to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the outlet noted.

Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote to Mayorkas, demanding he cancel the fee increases. 

"Instead of penalizing employers for this administration’s manufactured border crisis, DHS should focus its efforts on instituting commonsense policies to stem the influx of migrants overwhelming our immigration system," they wrote, per the Times. "We are deeply disappointed that the Biden administration continues to reward illegal entry into this country, especially at the expense of hardworking entrepreneurs and farmers who are operating within the legal parameters of the immigration system."

Mayorkas himself has been the object of Republican criticism for years now, with many GOP detractors pointing to his policies as spurring the ongoing rush of migrants to the border. Many have floated his resignation.

Roughly 2.4 million migrants entered the U.S. in fiscal year 2022 alone, with more than 4 million doing so since President Joe Biden took office.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.