{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://himes.house.gov/press-releases?ID=DDA939AC-335A-4F6F-9E14-6335E0C1F821", "Himes Leads Letter Calling for Afghan Fee Waivers", "2021-08-31", "2021", "2021-08", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "James A. Himes", "H001047", "himes.house.gov", "himes", "https://himes.house.gov/press-releases", "page_html", "Washington, DC\u2014 Today, Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) led a letter with 34 other members of the US House of Representatives to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas and Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services Ur. M. Jaddou calling for a blanket fee waiver for applications for humanitarian parole for Afghans trying to enter the United States.\n\nUnder current rules, people applying for humanitarian parole must pay a $575 filing fee for each application. While there are currently some circumstances in which the fee may be waived, the process of getting a waiver is plagued with delays. US Citizenship and Immigration Services must also review the fee waiver request before it can consider a parole application itself. The letter from the House members asks that all fees for applications for Afghan Nationals be waived immediately to expedite processing.\n\n\u201cThere are procedures we must follow to ensure the security of the humanitarian parole process,\u201d said Himes. \u201cBut charging a filing fee that holds up the entire process and potentially costs refugees their lives doesn\u2019t make Americans any safer. It\u2019s exactly the type of red tape we need to cut through if we\u2019re serious about saving as many lives as we can.\u201d\n\nJoining Congressman Himes on the letter are Rep. Thomas R. Suozzi (NY-3), Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-53), Rep. Peter Welch (VT-At Large), Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13), Rep. David Cicilline (RI-1), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.-At Large), Rep. Jennfier Wexton (VA-10), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Rep. Katie Porter (CA-45), Rep. Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Rep. Jake Auchincloss (MA-4), Rep. Grace Meng, (NY-6) Rep. Susan Wild (PA-7), Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA-1), Rep. Joseph D. Morelle (NY-25), Rep. Henry C. \"Hank,\" Johnson Jr. (GA-4), Rep. Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) , Rep. Michael Doyle (PA-18), Rep. Jim Costa (CA-16) , Rep. James McGovern (MA-2), Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-28), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Rep. Kathleen Rice (NY-4), Rep. Abigail D. Spanberger (VA-7), Rep. Tom Malinowski (NJ-7) Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (NY-5), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Rep. John Larson (CT-1), Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Rep. J. Luis Correa (CA-46), and Rep. Andr\u00e9 Carson (IN-7).\n\nThe full letter is available here.\n\nFor more information, contact Patrick Malone at Patrick.malone@mail.house.gov.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T11:08:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://himes.house.gov/press-releases?ID=DDA939AC-335A-4F6F-9E14-6335E0C1F821"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.166533213108778, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}