Just $250 bucks - a bargain. 
What exactly it’s supposed to do - apart from funding various agencies - isn’t explained in the article.
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Entrance fee, just like at Disney world. 
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From the article
Payment of the new “integrity fee” for nonimmigrant visas will be required at the time visas are issued, and there will be no fee waivers. Travelers who comply with their visa conditions can have their fees reimbursed after the trip is over, according to the provision.
So it’s an incentive not to overstay. Not certain $250 is enough.
Another possibility it gives the US, who has no passport controls on exit, a means to determine those that do overstay.
Edited to add:
Tourists and business travelers from countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Program, including Australia and many European countries, aren’t required to obtain visas for stays of 90 days or less. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) fees associated with the program are expected to increase to at least $40, according to the bill, nearly double the current amount.
So most of us, and Canadians, will be exempt.
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USA claims the fee is ‘refundable’ … but there are no clear, simple or easy way to request refund …
Personal opinion, this nickiel-and-dime’ing is enough to make me consider other places …
In the US, the tipping cuture has become sooo bad … Corporations, after price gouging to make gazillion $ profits and then asking the customers to tip so the employees can have a living wage … even self-service places are asking for 20+% tips … … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOP67A9W4OE
Some additional links …
https://www.npr.org/2021/03/22/980047710/the-land-of-the-fee
you can stay right here, we had this subject in the Swiss tip thread already.
Tipping at the self-check out though? 
except Disney world is probably more fun, and safer, I guess…
I saw something similar on Swiss visitors recently so maybe it’ll apply wherever you come from, but the article I read said it’s applicable to visa holders only, not to visaless tourists.
@tom8050 that CNN article is 3 almost years old
Got updated today though.
You r right. Cnn published this trend 3 years ago. Since then, the masses in the US have had time to become accustomed to this trend.
Nowadays, it’s evolved to Airport customer left shocked after self-checkout machine asks for tip | The Independent
AI wants tip too 
During a recent trip to the US, I was asked to tip at the (large chain) grocery store check out.
Yeah, “it’s just the software”… but it’s frickin’ annoying, especially when grocery prices are already sky high. You want me to add 20% to the grocery bill, on top of ever increasing prices due to rampant inflation?
Switzerland is now a bargain compared to the US… who’d a thunk it.
But back to the new visa fees…