Immigration Provisions in Budget Bill
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law. It contains a number of significant immigration provisions including new fees for various immigration-related applications. In most cases, these fees are in addition to existing fees. The fees listed are minimum fees that could increase by regulation and annually for inflation. In most instances, the fees are not waivable. Fees will take effect immediately under the statute; however, there may be delays in collection as the government operationalizes payment.
The new law makes permanent the significant tax cuts for the wealthy which were first passed in 2017, and adds trillions for dollars to the federal deficit.
In addition, millions of Americans will lose access to health care benefits and food stamps.
Less well known are the negative effects that the law will have on immigrant families across the United States.
Below is a chart which details the some of new fees the law is imposing on immigrants seeking humanitarian relief:
| Case type | Initial fee* | Subsequent fee* | Fee waiver available? | Additional Information |
|
$100** |
$100** each year application is pending |
No |
||
|
Asylum applicant EAD |
$550** |
$275** per renewal |
No |
EAD terminates after asylum application denial unless appealed |
|
TPS |
$500** |
No |
||
|
TPS EAD |
$550** |
$275** per renewal |
No |
EAD validity limited to one year or validity of TPS grant, whichever is shorter |
|
Immigration parole application |
$1,000** |
No |
Applicants for adjustment of status, among others, are exempt from the fee |
|
|
Parole EAD |
$550** |
$275** per renewal |
No |
EAD validity limited to one year or validity of parole grant, whichever is shorter |
|
Special Immigrant Juvenile petition |
$250 |
N/A |
Not prohibited by the legislation |
* After FY 2025, fees will be adjusted annually for inflation.
** DHS is authorized to establish by regulation a higher fee than that specified in the legislation.
The legislation also imposes significant new fees on applications and other procedures that are filed or adjudicated in immigration court during removal proceedings, including applications for adjustment of status, Temporary Protected Status, and others.
The legislation creates a new “visa integrity fee” for visa applicants and increases certain other fees related to travel to and admission into the United States.
| Fee type | Fee amount* | Fee waiver? | Additional information |
|
Visa integrity fee |
$250 per application** |
No |
Fee reimbursable if visa holder complies with all visa conditions and timely departs or extends stay or adjusts status |
|
I-94 fee |
$24** |
No |
|
|
ESTA fee |
$13 |
No |
|
|
Electronic Visa Update System (EVUS) fee |
$30** |
No |
Fee applies to certain Chinese nationals traveling on a 10-year B-1/B-2 visa |
* After FY 2025, fees will be adjusted annually for inflation.
** DHS is authorized to establish by regulation a higher fee than that specified in the legislation.
The bill authorizes $170 billion for Trump’s mass deportation and detention goals, $45 billion of which will go toward funding detention centers and $30 billion to fund ICE. Detention capacity will increase to 116,000 beds.
$46.5 billion will be allocated to complete Trump’s border wall. $5 billion will fund CBP facilities and $10 billion for border security initiatives.
$13.5 billion will be set aside to reimburse states and local governments which assist the Federal Government in immigration enforcement.
$3 billion is authorized for the Department of Justice which supervises the Immigration Courts. However, strangely-enough, the new law caps the number of Immigration Judges at 800 despite the backlog of almost 4 million pending cases in the Immigration Court. In 2023, the Congressional Research Services estimated that over 1,300 Immigration Judges would be necessary to eliminate the court backlogs.
We predict that the Trump Administration intends to bypass the Immigration Courts and Constitutional Due Process in its Mass Deportation Efforts.
