A powerful group of labor and immigration rights organizations in New York is calling on the Biden administration to expand rights for migrants that would fast-track work permits for them and help alleviate strain on social services, as shelter systems overflow.
A coalition of union and human rights advocacies has urged Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to give more people Temporary Protective Status (TPS) , a provision giving migrants the ability to live and work in the US legally for an extended period.
Asylum seekers admitted into the US have to wait a minimum of 180 days – often much longer – before being authorized to work, preventing them from earning to support themselves and their families amid limited access to public services and, in the latest crisis, scenes of migrants forced to sleep on the streets of midtown Manhattan.
The coalition includes organizations such as African Communities Together (ACT), Make the Road New York and Proyecto Faro (Project Lighthouse). The group sent a letter to Mayorkas, cc-ing US Vice-President Kamala Harris and the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Monday, noting that while migrants fleeing danger deserved more help and more rights, the US labor market could also benefit significantly – and that government leaders including US president Joe Biden had options.
“Fortunately, the President does have a tool – TPS – that would allow these new asylum seekers to have immediate access to work authorization,” read the letter, sent Monday.
The letter requested that Mayorkas expand TPS for migrants from the 16 countries of origin already eligible, including El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela, but who are not eligible for TPS themselves based on when they arrived to the US.
“We ask that the Biden administration use TPS for migrants inclusive of those countries of origin, allowing them an opportunity to contribute their skills and talents to New York’s work force,” read the letter.
The letter also requested that the Biden administration designate several countries as eligible for TPS, including Guatemala and Democratic Republic of the Congo , which are experiencing civil unrest.
The Guardian sought a statement from the Department of Homeland Security but received none prior to deadline.
TPS is a DHS program that protects migrants from deportation, grants them work permits and allows travel.
Many of the asylum seekers the group wants the Biden administration to assist arrived at the US-Mexico border having fled from South and Central America as well as Haiti.
The push for expanded TPS designation comes as cities across the US have struggled to provide basic support for hundreds of thousands of migrants, including food, shelter and work.
Massachusetts and New York have issued emergency declarations and requested federal assistance to house migrants. Thousands of migrants have been bussed from Republican-held states to New York and other Democratic-led cities without coordination, further straining local social services.
Nearly 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived to New York City alone since last year, and more than 57,200 remain in the city’s care.
City officials, including Mayor Eric Adams, have announced that resources such as the shelter system are at capacity as upwards of 500 migrants arrive each day.
Some new arrivals have struggled to find shelter in US cities. Scores of migrants were forced to sleep on the street outside a Manhattan hotel last week while they waited at an intake center, while others have been stuck on the streets because of overcrowded shelters or security concerns. Sky-high rents and ineligibility for city rental assistance are exacerbating the problem, especially while work permits remain out of reach.
Harold Solis, the co-legal director of the organization Make the Road New York, said that TPS offers an “immediate stabilizer” to migrants while they navigate the complicated asylum process.
“The idea is for folks to be able to go out, find meaningful employment, be able to put food on the table for them and their families. Common sense tells us that it’s a lot harder to do that if you can’t work,” Solis said.
Many migrants still work even without authorization, but often face dangerous and exploitative conditions, said Elora Mukherjee, a professor of law at Columbia Law School.
“They are frequently not paid minimum wages, they work long hours in dangerous conditions, and are frequently taken advantage of by employers and by corporations,” Mukherjee said.
Employers may use a migrant’s undocumented work status against them, while TPS “gives them peace of mind”, Solis added.
Advocates noted labor shortages throughout New York state and beyond.
“Many of the individuals who are coming here have … skills … and different experiences that might be able to inform what they might contribute to their new communities in New York and in the United States,” Solis said.
Advocates have said that the Biden administration has previously expanded TPS designation for Ukraine ahead of non-white countries experiencing war and unrest.
Diana Konaté, a policy director for African Communities Together, said African migrants, in particular, often arrive to the US as asylum seekers or through other humanitarian relief programs, but come from countries that aren’t granted TPS designation.
“The conditions in these countries are conditions that are not safe for people to return to,” Konaté said, adding: “We want the US government to provide a level of protection here in the US so that people feel comfortable when they’re here, knowing that they have lawful status, but also so they’re able to take care of themselves and their families, contribute to their communities and really be able to live full lives of dignity.”
Elizabeth Roberts, director of administration and finance at Proyecto Faro, supported TPS expansion but called TPS a “Band-Aid”.
“The entire system is so broken that everything’s a Band-Aid. We have people on TPS who came from Haiti over 10 years ago. At what point is the temporary no longer temporary?” she said.
Mukherjee urged a permanent solution for the “hundreds of thousands of individuals who are integrated in our communities in every way and deserve a pathway to citizenship”.
