US President Donald Trump wants asylum seekers to pay a fee to have their applications processed in the latest move in his crackdown on migration.
Trump, in his campaign to White House, vows to crackdown immigration laws in the US.
The direction was given in a presidential memorandum on Monday, which called for a slew of new rules.
The US top leader also wants to disqualify asylum seekers who enter the United States illegally from obtaining temporary work permits.
Commenting on the new rules, critics say that fees would put the process out of reach for many people.
In his memo, the chief executive said the fee would not exceed the cost of processing the applications, but estimates have not yet been provided of what this may be.
“The majority of people coming to the United States seeking asylum are coming with little more than the shirts on their back,” Victoria Neilson, a former official at US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the government agency that accepts asylum applications, told Reuters news agency.
Under the current system, asylum seekers who enter the US both legally and illegally are allowed to work while their claims are processed.
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