06/01/2026
💡Public Commenting Tip: Use your own words.
Many of you wisely reached out requesting a model for what you should write in your public comment.
The following is a model comment to help give you an example and ideas. But the comment should be mostly your original words. Feel free to delete whole sections and replace them with your personal, or organizational, perspective on the issue.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is supposed to read and consider every comment submitted, unless they are largely duplicative of another comment. If everyone uses the template without changing it, USCIS may consider all submissions that look similar as just one comment.
➡️ I am writing to submit public comments regarding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to increase the fee for Form I-246, Application for a Stay of Deportation or Removal, from $155 to $755.
I strongly oppose this drastic fee increase for the following reasons:
1. Severe Financial Difficulty and Burden
Increasing the filing fee by $600 imposes an often-insurmountable financial burden on individuals who are already facing removal from the United States. For low-income individuals and families, a $755 fee pushes an essential legal option out of reach. This forces many vulnerable individuals to be unable to file a stay of removal, resulting in irreparable harm without consideration of their circumstances. Additionally, while fee waivers do exist, there is no clear historical records for the rates of success and attainability to ensure that this important legal option will be accessible.
2. Unjustified Increase Relative to Inflation
While ICE notes that the fee has not been adjusted since 1989, a jump of nearly 400% is extreme and disproportionate to cumulative inflation over the last 37 years. It is particularly unreasonable to impose such an exponential spike without demonstrating a corresponding agency need or an improvement in the processing times or adjudication efficiency of these urgent applications.
For these reasons, I urge DHS to reconsider and withdraw this proposed rule and maintain the current $155 fee.
🔗Submit your comment and learn more: https://buff.ly/UkOWuIM
📣 ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITY📣
The federal government is finding more ways to make daily life challenging for immigrants and their families. Fees are increasing. Work permits are becoming more limited. Housing assistance is being narrowed. Processing times for applications are increasing or being paused altogether.
As of May 7, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has proposed a rule to increase the filing fee for Form I-246, Application for a Stay of Deportation or Removal, from $155 to $755, marking a 387% increase.
Form I-246 is typically used by immigrants who have been issued a final order of removal - meaning an immigration judge has ruled that they must leave the country - but who have urgent reasons why immediate deportation would cause serious harm. Though a stay of removal does not guarantee that an immigrant will be allowed to remain in the United States permanently. It simply buys critical time - time that can make the difference between a family staying together and a parent being forced to leave children behind.
For immigrants and families already under enormous financial and emotional stress, a nearly four-fold fee increase could be devastating.
➡️ Submit a public comment: Tell the government that drastically increasing Stay of Deportation or Removal fees harms our entire community. [Public comment period is open until July 6, 2026]
🔗Submit your comment and learn more: https://buff.ly/UkOWuIM
