The call to allow migrants to work continued on Thursday, this time coming from immigration advocacy groups, unions, and work providers.
A coalition of organizations gathered in Battery Park’s Castle Clinton in the shadow of the iconic Statue of Liberty to implore the federal government to expand a program that would provide a greater number of asylum seekers with immediate work authorization. The immigrants, under the program, would be granted with what’s known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
This demand comes after the group penned a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, the U.S. Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, requesting that the Biden Administration help address the migrant crisis by providing asylum seekers with legal work opportunities. The group believes this would ease the pressure on the city’s shelter system and would allow the newcomers to work and give back to their respective communities.
