Sheldon Jacobson’s suggestions for improving the processing of asylum-seekers (”Here’s how the government can improve processing immigrants,”
May 22) are good as far as it goes, but it fails to address what
happens after those migrating are processed. In effect, they are
released into the country with no resources and no opportunity to work
and earn, even though they are eager to do so. It can take up to a year
for new arrivals to receive a federal work permit, leaving them either
to rely on the good will of religious and nonprofit organizations or to
enter a thriving (and often abusive) “gray” labor market, where they
suffer poor wages and few protections. My Episcopal church in Highland
Park, like many other faith communities, has been providing housing and
support for two Venezuelan families, and we are discovering that helping
them achieve independence and self-sufficiency is stymied by policies
that set them up to fail. One
solution would be for the Biden administration to speed access to work
permits for anyone released into the country after encountering
immigration authorities, rather than waiting 150 days after filing an
asylum claim. Given Washington gridlock, that seems unlikely. Another
daring option would be for our “sanctuary state” of Illinois to issue
its own work permits for those residing in the state. That would
regularize the work migrants are already doing, offer them some
protection, and allow them to contribute to the common good through
their taxes. Doing so might help our new neighbors achieve the dignity
and self-sufficiency they desire, as well as relieve the burden on our
strained social safety net.
— Bryan Cones, pastor at Trinity Episcopal Church, Highland Park