‘Into the shadows’: New federal rules could push asylum seekers further into poverty

Immigration lawyers and advocates are scrambling to rally asylum seekers in South Florida to file their work permit applications quickly before new federal restrictions take effect on Aug. 21.

The new work permit rules targeting asylum seekers will soon push an already-vulnerable population further into poverty, advocates say.

The sweeping regulatory changes, which will restrict and delay some asylum seekers from legally working in the U.S., go into effect on Aug. 21 and Aug. 25. Experts say the new restrictions are part of the Trump administration’s drive to slowly narrow asylum protections for a vulnerable group of people, including children and the LGBTQ, that generally includes survivors of domestic violence and trafficking as well as people who have been victims of violent crimes, child abuse and human-rights violations in their home countries.

With the dates less than two weeks away, immigration groups are moving to get eligible asylum seekers to postmark their employment authorization applications before the new rules become official.

“We are doing aggressive outreach to folks,” said Randy McGrorty, a longtime Miami immigration lawyer and executive director of Catholic Legal Services, a nonprofit under the Archdiocese of Miami that helps immigrants obtain asylum. “They can’t wait any longer. Consider this an emergency.”

Among the biggest changes in the new rules:

▪ Under the current law, asylum seekers are eligible for a work permit regardless of when they submit their asylum application. However, as of Aug. 25, anyone who files a new asylum application one year after entering the U.S. will not be eligible for a work permit unless the government finds that they meet an extraordinary exception.

▪ Work permits will be prohibited for any asylum applicants who have been convicted of certain crimes or “believed” to have committed a serious non-political crime outside of the U.S.

▪ Any work permit filed by an asylum seeker will be denied if the government claims that there are “unresolved applicant-caused delays,” such as a request to amend or supplement the asylum application or if the application is being transferred to a different asylum office due to a change in the applicant’s address.

▪ Effective Aug. 21, the government is no longer obligated to process initial work permit applications within 30 days. This does not apply to renewals. Under current law, officials must process the application within a month. When the change takes effect, it could take an indeterminate amount of time to process the application. Legal experts say this means it’s possible that some asylum seekers may never have an opportunity to work because their work permit application can be seriously delayed. In the meantime, the asylum application could be denied, which makes the migrant automatically ineligible for a work permit.

▪ Currently, if the government denies an asylum application, asylum seekers can work until the work permit expires or up to 60 days after the denial, whichever is longer. Under the new law on Aug. 21, if the asylum office denies an application, the work permit automatically ends, unless it’s referred to the immigration court by the government’s asylum officer.

▪ Come Oct. 2, fees will rise. Work permit application fees will rise by 34% from $410 to $550. For the first time in U.S. history, asylum seekers will be charged money to apply for asylum: $50.

“It’s harassment, an attack on the asylum system,” McGrorty said. “The government doesn’t want people to file for asylum, so they are going to make it difficult. For example: In general, five months without permission to work has been devastating,” McGrorty said. “Imagine not being able to work for half a year. The new rule more than doubles that amount of time.”

Jennifer Anzardo Valdez, the program director for the Children’s Law Program at Americans for Immigrant Justice, a Florida non-profit immigration organization representing Miami’s most at-risk communities, is on the staff’s legal team charged with analyzing the administration’s new work-permit rules. She says the “rules are designed to keep asylum seekers not just from making a living, but from surviving.”

“Many of these people are coming with nothing, sometimes deciding to leave their homes overnight, and embark on a journey that takes a really long time,” Anzardo Valdez said. “By the time many get here, they are traumatized and have absolutely nothing. They depend on this work permit to put food on the table and a roof over their heads while they are waiting for the court’s decision. That’s what the work authorization is designed for, for giving the person an opportunity to survive and rebuild while they wait to see if their asylum is granted.”

Experts say there’s a common misconception that asylum seekers are eligible for government aid.

“They’re not,” Anzardo Valdez added. “In fact, it’s the opposite. These people pay taxes when they have jobs and boost our economy.”

According to federal data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, there were more than 1 million work permit applications filed nationwide in fiscal year 2019. The government does not break down the data by state nor does it distinguish how many of those applications were filed by asylum seekers.

According to the new rule published in the Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged advocates’ concerns that the new rules could lead to or exacerbate issues like homelessness, hunger, mental health problems and lack of access to healthcare, but told asylum seekers to find a homeless shelter.

“Asylum seekers who are concerned about homelessness during the pendency of their employment authorization waiting period should become familiar with the homelessness resources provided by the state where they intend to reside,” DHS said in the final rule posted in the Federal Register.

“This is why I say that the law is being changed and enforced in draconian ways,” said Juan Carlos Gomez, director of the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic at Florida International University.

The new rules come during a global pandemic “when people are already facing economic devastation as well as political devastation,” Gomez said. “It can take years and years for the government to process asylum cases. These changes will throw asylum seekers into legal limbo and leave many without options for permanent housing.”

Right now, most asylum seekers rely on informal networks of others in their ethnic communities and extended families to jump-start their lives. However, at some point, that help runs out and they need to feed their children.

“Me and my wife are two of them,” a 33-year-old Cuban asylum seeker said in Spanish in a phone interview from McGrorty’s office. The man is one of dozens of asylum seekers McGrorty is helping file work permit applications before the deadline.

The asylum seeker — whom the Miami Herald is not identifying because of his immigration status — is the son of a Cuban government intelligence official. He says he fled political persecution in early 2019 after his father threatened to kill him. His two children, ages 7 and 12, are currently in hiding on the island.

“We’ve been trying to get by the last six months. Luckily we have some family here so we have been hopping from couch to couch,” he said. “Now we are rushing to make sure we file for the work permit before my time without work is extended even further.”

The Herald reached out to eight asylum seekers in South Miami-Dade, none of whom were aware of the upcoming changes — a problem that is “quite common” among the immigrant community, McGrorty says.

“Usually when people are fleeing for their lives they usually don’t ask the advice of a lawyer,” he said. “There are many factors: It’s a very complex legal analysis. It’s a very long application that is in English. Oftentimes people either need help with it or aren’t even aware of it, and there are very few resources available, especially now with COVID.”

But that won’t deter those seeking asylum from working, experts say. Instead, migrants will be forced to turn to the black market or work under the table to make ends meet, something that “is both inspiring yet detrimental to our economy,” Gomez said.

“You can’t live off thin air, so they will do whatever it takes. That’s the immigrant spirit. I mean c’mon, this is Miami,” Gomez said.

Rebecca Shi, the executive director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, says restricting work authorization for asylum seekers will have “significant repercussions” for economic growth and the nation’s ability to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At the local level, refugees and asylees have taken active roles and used their skills to help communities respond to the coronavirus. Many work in positions that have been deemed essential services during the pandemic,” Shi said.

According to a 2020 report published by the New American Economy, more than 46,000 asylees and refugees work in food processing, more than 31,000 work in grocery stores and food markets, and over 77,500 work in restaurants and food service establishments.

“In the healthcare world, asylees make up a significant percentage of frontline workers in states like Texas, Florida, and New York,” Shi said.

Added Gomez: “For centuries immigrants have always lived in [isolation]. But in two weeks, this massive effort to push back and abolish the asylum system will become a reality and will further push migrants more and more into the shadows.”