The Fee is Too High

Good commentary here on the high application fee, from Manuel Pastor of USC:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/manuel-pastor/nurturing-naturalization_b_2782861.html

Here's an excerpt:

 In short, price matters. And to the extent that public policy makers think that the civic and economic benefits of citizenship should be realized for both immigrants and the country, a consideration of lowering the fee, either through having Congress backfill the potential funding gap or by allowing United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to restructure the relative fee structure, may be in order.

For a nation of immigrants, encouraging naturalization and full participation in our civic and economic life would seem to be one of those goals on which many Americans can agree. After all, aspiring to be American should be about loyalty not about affordability, about the strength of your values -- not the size of your checkbook.