President. my distinguished colleague. Senator WILLTAMs. and I are today introducing legislation to correct an unwarranted imbalance in our Federal fiscal structure. Under current law. local governments bear an unfair share of the costs of processing petitions for naturalization from those wishing to become citizens of the United States. I insert with my statement two letters from county clerks in my State that describe the present situation. For example. the Nassau County Clerks Office processed 1.169 immigration petitions last year for the Federal Government. collecting some $29.225 in naturalization fees. Yet. because current law provides that counties may retain only onehalf of fees collected. up to a maximum of $6.000. Nassau County was reimbursed only $3.000. a small fraction of its costs.
Keywords matched
naturalization immigration