For Young Asylum-Seekers, Work Matters
In September, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared its plan to stop eliminating a regulation that requires processing requests for work authorization from asylum-seekers within 30 days.
Historically, asylum-seekers have had the right to request permission to work when they apply for asylum, and the government has had 30 days to respond to that request. Under the new regulations, without any evidence of a need for change to the process, the government has proposed exempting itself from responding to these requests for work authorization in a timely manner. The result would be more people in limbo, unable to support themselves, when they have so much to contribute to local economies.
If the DHS’s proposed rule goes into effect, it will impact asylum-seekers who have escaped persecution and violence around the world, including teenagers served by the Young Center. The process of seeking asylum can take months, if not years. The ability to work during this process is a critical resource for teenage asylum-seekers and their families. Meaningful employment provides teens and young adults with the opportunity to develop skills, gain work experience, earn wages, and receive employee benefits such as health insurance. For the teenage asylum-seekers the Young Center works with, the ability to work during the asylum application process is central to their financial, physical, and emotional well-being.
Young people—who arrive as children and seek asylum based on past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution they experienced as children—are often squarely in between childhood and adulthood. They desire an education but live in families and communities who struggle to make ends meet, and where lawful employment can bring much needed stability and safety to a young person. Ending a policy of prompt Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is harmful—for these young people, their families, and their communities. They’re valuable employees for local business. And with the money they earn, teens and young adult asylum-seekers contribute to the economy of their communities. In turn, the federal government benefits through the collection of federal income taxes.