Becerra Leads Fight To Preserve Asylum Rights

SACRAMENTO – State Attorney General Xavier Becerra is leading a coalition of 21 attorneys general opposing a Trump Administration proposal to significantly limit the right of asylum-seekers to seek work permits.

The attorneys general claim that the proposed rule would arbitrarily extend waiting periods, needlessly introduce uncertainty into the process, and eliminate access to work permits entirely for a large proportion of asylum-seekers.

The Attorney General believes that the new proposal ignores the vital economic contributions of immigrants throughout the country and would directly harm California’s communities. At least 15,000 asylum-seekers served by federal offices in California could be affected by this rule each year.

“In California, we embrace the contributions of immigrants living in our state,” said Attorney General Becerra, announcing the action. “The Trump Administration, on the other hand, continues to introduce arbitrary hoops and hurdles that prevent people fleeing violence and persecution from being able to provide for themselves or their families. This proposal is cruel and legally questionable at best. Today, we’re calling on the federal government to rescind this latest proposed attack on the asylum process.”

The proposed rule would delay access to work permits for asylum-seekers, denying them the chance to be self-sufficient whilst awaiting adjudication of their cases, thus making it potentially more difficult to adjust to life in the United States. Under the current system, asylum-seekers can apply for a work permit if their asylum application has been pending for 150 days. Under this proposal, the Trump Administration is seeking to more than double the waiting period to 365 days.

According to the federal government’s own estimates, this delay would result in up to $815.9 million in lost wages and up to $125 million in lost tax revenue nationwide each year. Those estimates do not include the losses associated with blocking many asylum-seekers from obtaining work permits entirely.

The attorneys general state in their letter that the federal government’s proposal ignores many of the harms the proposed rule would cause to states, in addition to the harm caused to asylum-seekers. Furthermore, they contend that by being unable to legally work, the proposal threatens to push asylum-seekers and their families to the fringes of society by making them more likely to seek work through exploitative employers in the underground economy.

Under one section of the proposed rule asylum applicants who appeal their case in federal court will be denied the chance to work until that case is resolved, a process that can take several years. Moreover, except in limited circumstances, applicants who do not enter the country through a port of entry or have been in the United States for more than a year would be permanently barred from working. In so doing, the attorneys general contend, the Trump Administration is seeking to overturn the Refugee Act of 1980, the longstanding Congressional Act that confirmed the right to seek asylum.

According to the most recent federal data available, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ offices in California generally receive more than 1,400 affirmative asylum applications each month. In 2019, one in five of the more than 327,000 affirmative asylum cases pending review with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services nationwide were pending out of federal offices in California.

Overall, Attorney General Becerra noted that immigrant households contribute billions of dollars in state and local taxes every year and play an integral role in ensuring the success of California’s economy.

The Attorney General submitted the comment letter this morning on behalf of the attorneys general for the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont.

A copy of the comment letter is available here: https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Asylum-Employment-Authorization-Letter.pdf