For as much as the Trump Administration has expressed (falsely) that immigrants are an economic drain on the country, the Administration is considering a new regulation that would create economic problems for thousands of people with pending asylum applications in the United States.
Under current U.S. law (dating back to the 1990s), asylum seekers can apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) once their asylum application has been pending for 150 days, and typically obtain work authorization within 30 additional days—meaning roughly six months in total. Typically these types of EADs are processed very quickly, which means that people with pending asylum can usually be legally working in the United States about six months after filing for asylum.
It often takes years for an asylum application to process, and the ability of an applicant to work while waiting is not only important for them to be able to support themself, but also because it helps our economic and societal structures. Without EADs the possibility of pending asylees being forced into exploitative, undocumented labor arrangements is extremely high, creating a whole gamut of other issues, like the undermining of worker protections, and tax collection efforts.
Under the Trump Administration’s reported new proposal, asylum seekers would have to wait an entire year before they are eligible to even apply for a work permit. More controversially, the administration plans to eliminate the ability for asylum seekers to receive work authorization altogether until their asylum claims are fully adjudicated—either by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or an immigration judge. This would effectively mean that many asylum applicants would not be allowed to work for years, given the severe backlogs in both the affirmative and defensive asylum processes.
To qualify for asylum, a person must show that they have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution based on at least one of five protected grounds: (1) race, (2) religion, (3) nationality, (4) political opinion, or (5) membership in a particular social group. If granted asylum, the person can apply for a green card after one year, and eventually pursue U.S. citizenship.
The policy shift is being framed by administration officials as a deterrent to what they characterize as ‘frivolous’ or economically motivated asylum claims, but what it appears to be is another deterrent to potential applicants to apply for asylum. It’s unclear when the regulation may be publicly announced, but it is almost certain to face litigation, as it would conflict with decades of established processes.
While this Administration wants to only recognize the rights of legal and documented immigrants, its attempt to overhaul the EAD process for asylum seekers marks a significant escalation in its efforts to restrict legal immigration channels under the guise of administrative reform.
If you need assistance filing for an immigration petition, you can reach us at (757) 422-8472, or send us a message on our website. You can also schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys by clicking on this link.
