Thread: Trump signs memorandum requiring immigrant sponsors to pay for social services

Originally Posted by Judy

That's what the asylum laws require as I understand them. If they don't have n asylum hearing within some short period of time, I think it's 60 days, then the law requires they be issued a work permit so they can work and support themselves until their claim is adjudicated through the immigration courts in DOJ. It's disgusting law and must be changed.

Asylum applicants don't qualify for a work permit until their case is won or 180 days have passed with no decision. That is the law. However, I believe the Trump administration has been issuing them earlier.

Okay, so 6 months, if they apply.

When Can Asylum Applicants Get a Work Permit (EAD Card)?
Asylum applicants don't qualify for a work permit until their case is won or 180 days have passed with no decision.

By Ilona Bray, J.D.

Under U.S. immigration laws, only certain immigrants are allowed to work, usually after they apply for a work permit called an Employment Authorization Document (or EAD). Some years ago, asylum applicants were allowed to get an EAD as soon as they'd submitted their application for asylum and work while their case was being considered, but no longer.
Now, in order to be granted a work permit, you have to either

win your asylum case (which may take several years), or
be left waiting 180 days or more with no initial decision on your application from the asylum office or from the immigration court. After 150 days, you can apply for a work permit and you are eligible to receive it after you have been waiting 180 days.

If you win your asylum case, you not only gain the right to work in the U.S., but don't need to apply for an EAD with which to do so. Your asylum grant allows you to obtain an unrestricted Social Security card, which is all you need to present to an employer.

Now let's look at some unique issues raised by the second option, of applying for a work permit if there's been no decision on your case within 150 days of your application.

Given that long waits are a common part of every type of immigration application, especially asylum applications in recent years, it got so people could count on 150 days passing without any decision on their asylum application if you filed it with an asylum office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Likewise, if you are in removal (deportation) proceedings in immigration court and want to apply for asylum, you could easily be waiting more than 150 days for a court date to see an immigration judge.

But USCIS has been taking steps to combat what it sees as a problem of people applying for asylum mainly to get a work permit. In 2018, it therefore began scheduling recent asylum applicants BEFORE those who'd applied earlier, just to make sure they had less of a chance of receiving a work permit. (Speak to an attorney for the latest on how long you are likely to wait.)

In any case, you will want to start the asylum application process as soon as possible, so the clock can start running. If you're applying with USCIS, you'll get a receipt notice telling you when it received your application, which will be the date the clock starts.

If you're in removal proceedings, fortunately you don't have to be in front of an immigration judge to get the process started. You can just go to the court and "lodge" (give to the court) your asylum application. The court will stamp your copy of the application with a notation that it has been lodged, so that when you apply for your EAD you can prove to USCIS that the clock started that day. (You still have to officially "file" your asylum application with the court when the judge tells you to.)

Your wait to apply could be even longer than 150 days. Various things can occur to "stop the clock" (stop the counting up of the 150 days). For example, if you request more time or fail to show up for a fingerprinting appointment, the government will stop the clock during this time. If USCIS requests more evidence from you in order to be able to make its decision, the clock will stop until it receives your response. If you're in removal proceedings, the clock will stop if you ask for your case to be postponed so you can get an attorney; if you ask for more time to prepare your case; if you say no when the judge asks you if you want your asylum claim to be heard sooner than normal; or if you file a motion that delays your case. Applicants in removal proceedings can track the progress of their "asylum clock" by calling the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)'s immigration case status information number, 800-898-7180.

Various problems with the 150-day clock process have been observed, too. In many cases, the clock got stopped without the applicant even knowing or hearing about it, perhaps based on a government mistake. Applicants then found it very hard to get the clock started up again. This led to a court settlement, which enabled a more open asylum-clock process.

Once 150 days have passed and you have applied, the government has 30 days to give you (or deny) your EAD.
If You're Allowed to Apply for a Work Permit

If 150 days pass with no initial decision on your asylum application, you'll need to take steps to apply for a work permit.

The application process involves filling out USCIS Form I-765. For more detailed instructions on how to complete this form as an asylum applicant, see How to Apply for a Work Permit as an Asylum Applicant.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...ing-32297.html

Originally Posted by MW

Asylum applicants don't qualify for a work permit until their case is won or 180 days have passed with no decision. That is the law. However, I believe the Trump administration has been issuing them earlier.

Why do you think the Trump Administration has been issuing them earlier? That would be illegal!

Originally Posted by Judy

Why do you think the Trump Administration has been issuing them earlier? That would be illegal!

Illegal doesn't bother Trump

The Trump Organization Hired Undocumented Workers, Exploited Them, then Fired Them. Here’s A Recap of What Happened.

https://americasvoice.org/blog/trump...ented-workers/

Trump doesn't issue the work permits. USCIS issues the work permits. The term Trump Administration means the agencies and departments. All those 2 million civilian government employees.

Originally Posted by Judy

Why do you think the Trump Administration has been issuing them earlier? That would be illegal!

Seems like I remember reading something recently about some asylum claimants being issued work permits early. I'm not 100% sure on that though. There is so much information floating around on asylum, I may be confusing something I read about refugees. Of course refugees are authorized to work immediately.

I'm just glad we have government employees who keep it all straight for us. It's not work I would want to do, letting in all these people to steal our jobs and suck on our welfare systems, according to stupid outrageous laws. Who would want to be part of bankrupting their own country through stupid immigration laws? It should be illegal for Congress to ask any worker to do that or pay them to do that.

They should NOT even be on our soil without PRIOR approval, vetting, no diseases and no medical conditions and the means to support themselves!!!

Send them back to apply, wait their damn turn, get prior approval.

We cannot have 2 billion people on the planet show up on our doorstep!

We do not know who they are, do not have the money or resources for this!

22 trillion in debt and these overbreeding parasites are costing us billions of dollars every year and destroying our communities!

Originally Posted by MW

Seems like I remember reading something recently about some asylum claimants being issued work permits early. I'm not 100% sure on that though. There is so much information floating around on asylum, I may be confusing something I read about refugees. Of course refugees are authorized to work immediately.

Nope, guess I wasn't confused after all about what is happening in the Trump administration.

Here's where I saw that the Trump administration is breaking the law by issuing work permits early for asylum claimants (It was a JohnDoe2 post):

'100%' of illegal immigrant families being released into U.S., Homeland Security says

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times
Thursday, May 23, 2019

---

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Thursday that “100%” of illegal immigrant families in the new border surge are being released into communities, rather than being held and deported.

He said within a month or two, they are also granted work permits, giving them a foothold to live and remain in the U.S. while their cases proceed through the immigration courts — a process that averages two years, and stretches even longer in some overwhelmed regions. . .

If this is true, it is a gross violation of immigration law!

Originally Posted by Judy

I'm just glad we have government employees who keep it all straight for us. .

You mean like they do about how many miles of fence has been built at the border?