New US initiative to get work authorisation for Caribbean and other migrants

NEW YORK, CMC – New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a multi-state coalition calling for expanded access to work authorisation for new Caribbean and other immigrants.

James is leading a coalition of 19 attorneys general calling for the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to expedite and expand access to work authorisation for newly-arrived Caribbean and other immigrants, especially asylum-seekers and migrants.

Many of the asylum seekers arriving in New York from the southern border of the United States are nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the coalition commends the department's efforts in September to remove barriers to securing work authorisation and requests additional action to protect new immigrants and make it easier for them to support their families by securing stable jobs.

“New immigrants, so many of whom fled horrific circumstances in pursuit of a better life in America, deserve an opportunity to find good-paying, stable jobs,” James told the Caribbean Media Corporation.

“It is unconscionable that after all the suffering they've endured on their journey, they encounter bureaucratic roadblocks preventing them from pursuing the American dream.

“Asylum-seekers and migrants are particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and I thank my fellow attorneys general for joining this effort to ensure they are treated with dignity,” she added.

While many new immigrants, including those seeking asylum status, are eager to find employment to provide for themselves and their families, James said that, without work authorisation, they have been forced to rely on state and local safety net programmes for food and shelter.

The coalition of attorneys general notes in their letter that the arduous process of obtaining work authorisation leaves many immigrant families without stable housing and forces some to seek work in the underground economy, “where they are targets for exploitation.”

The New York attorney general said current work authorisation applications often require expensive fees or complex fee waiver requirements, preventing a large portion of immigrants from even applying for the permit.

She said backlogs in the approval of work authorisation permits have led to months-long wait times for approval.

“Migrants from regions such as Haiti have been disproportionately impacted, with their humanitarian parole status expiring before their work authorisation is granted,” James said, adding “such structural barriers prevent these vulnerable populations from becoming self-sufficient and building stable lives in America.”

She said the coalition fully supports DHS' previous measures to improve access to work authorisation, which included speeding up application processing and increasing the amount of time that work authorisation permits are valid for.

However, James said the coalition's letter notes that additional measures are needed to eliminate the barriers new immigrants face in finding stable jobs to support themselves.

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