(The Center Square) — A coalition of New York state labor unions and community groups are pressuring the Biden administration to authorize protected immigration status for newly arriving asylum seekers to allow them to begin working.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the coalition asks the federal agency to allow Temporary Protected Status applications for newly arrived asylum seekers from more than a dozen countries and expedite the process for individuals whose applications are pending amid lengthy backlogs.
The groups, which include the 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East union and the New York Immigration Coalition, said tens of thousands of migrants are arriving in the state “but are unable to work without the proper authorization, limiting their ability to provide for themselves and forcing them to rely on limited social services.”
“These new arrivals have been subjected to danger, trauma and abuse throughout their journey to our country as they seek asylum,” they wrote.
The coalition called on the Biden administration to redesignate TPS status for asylum seekers from Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Nepal, Sudan, South Sudan and Cameroon. It also requests TPS designations from migrants arriving from Guatemala, Mauritania, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Haiti and Nigeria, all of which they said, “remain unsafe.”
“We ask that the Biden administration use TPS for migrants inclusive of these countries of origin, allowing them an opportunity to contribute their skills and talents to New York’s workforce,” they wrote.
Under the TPS law, people already in the United States are allowed to remain in 18-month increments if Homeland Security determines that natural disasters or civil strife prevent them from safely returning home.
In June, the Biden administration extended TPS legal status by 18 months for more than 300,000 people from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Nepal. The program is set to end soon under Trump-era decisions.
Over 90,000 migrants have come through New York City in the past year amid a surge of immigration along the southern border. The city is providing housing, food and other necessities for more than 50,000 migrants and the city expects to spend more than $4 billion caring for migrants over the next two years.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams have called on the Biden administration to expedite federal work authorization for asylum seekers. They say the approval delays are driving up costs and forcing workers to under-the-counter jobs that deprive the state of tax dollars and increase the likelihood that they could be exploited.
In the letter to Mayorkas, the coalition said New York has a long track record of absorbing large numbers of newly arriving immigrants into its workforce, and employers desperately need new labor.
“New York is powered by immigrants. One in five New Yorkers identify as immigrants,” they wrote. “Despite some elected officials who are pursuing xenophobic policies to reject families seeking safety, immigrants have a record of reinvigorating economies by growing our communities.”
