Posted on 09/07/23
| News Source: yahoo news
The Biden administration on Thursday sent notifications to tens of thousands of migrants across the U.S. reminding them to apply for work permits, a move taken in response to intensifying pressure from officials in New York and other cities struggling to house new arrivals.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) started sending emails and texts to migrants who are eligible to apply for work authorization with the agency, including asylum-seekers and those who arrived in the U.S. under programs the Biden administration created to discourage adults and families from crossing the southern border without authorization.
"You are receiving this message because you were paroled into the U.S. You can apply for a work permit online," reads the notification, which includes a link to the USCIS work authorization application.
Naree Ketudat, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, confirmed the department had "launched a first-of-its-kind national campaign for noncitizens who are work-eligible but have not yet applied for employment authorization."
The notifications are being sent to migrants who entered the U.S. under a process that allows Americans to sponsor the entry of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, as well as those processed at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border after securing an appointment through a government phone app. The Biden administration has been processing both populations under the immigration parole authority, which allows migrants to work and live in the U.S. legally on a temporary basis, typically for two years.
Migrants who've filed asylum cases will also receive a version of the notification if their cases have been pending for at least 150 days. U.S. law only allows asylum-seekers to receive work permits 180 days after they submit their applications.
"You are receiving this message because you applied for asylum and might soon be eligible to apply for a work permit," the notification for asylum-seekers reads.