Diocese of New York establishes fund to help asylum-seekers and others pay new filing fees

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Diocese of New York has created a new Immigrant Legal Support Fund to help asylum-seekers and others applying for special immigration status pay new fees that now are required when they make their legal claims.

In an Oct. 4 email, New York Bishop Matthew Heyd said the fund offers the diocese “an opportunity to make a difference for our neighbors and their families at a scary time.”

He notes that asylum-seekers come to the U.S. seeking safety after having to flee their country, and they now will be required, for the first time, to pay a $100 filing fee when applying for asylum status and an additional $100 every year their case remains pending.

“There are no waivers,” Heyd said. “Families now face yet another barrier to safety.” Across the diocese, he said, local communities “have welcomed more than 200 asylum-seekers who will need help meeting these new annual fee obligations.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  notes that these new fees are mandated by H.R. 1, the budget legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president in July commonly called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Heyd said the fund also can help pay the higher fee now required when someone applies for Temporary Protected Status ($500, up from $50), as well as new fees for those seeking employment authorization ($550) and for a child applying for status as a special immigrant juvenile ($250).

This effort is part of a broader Sanctuary Legal Fund the diocese created in late September. It is designed to help immigrants get access to legal resources “under urgent and vulnerable circumstances.” It was launched with an initial $50,000 from bishops’ discretionary funds.

As described on the diocesan website, the Sanctuary Legal Fund partners with local nonprofits that provide legal services to immigrants, and it also can help with money for emergency legal support. For most cases, it can’t cover the cost of individual representation.

Information about the fund notes that New York is a sanctuary diocese committed to safety, pastoral care and justice. “As a Christian community we provide safe places of belonging. Our congregations welcome everyone, every day, without regard to their immigration status,” it says. “Increasingly, providing safety means offering support for our congregations and neighbors to know their rights through an often confusing process.”

— Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.