Originally Posted by
jiejie
If I recall correctly, the rule that applicants for US visas must pay for the full cost of processing
This was my thinking when I posted. As everyone knows, DHS has an enormous budget; visa fees are expected to cover their direct and indirect impacts upon this budget. If anything, I would guess that the $130 figure is a bit on the low side (in light of inelastic demand).
No matter how much our new president dislikes the DHS, he's not going to make it disappear overnight. Moreover, I couldn't imagine (in my wildest dreams) that he'd offload any more administrative costs onto US tax payers.