SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
As seen through fencing, migrants--including a young child--stand while being detained by Department of Homeland Security police after crossing to the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border barrier, on June 27, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
'Relentless Cruelty': Proposed Trump Administration Rule Would Keep Asylum-Seekers From Applying for Work Permits for a Year
"Trump is willing to hurt our economy just so that he can hurt immigrants first."
Nov 03, 2019
A proposal being discussed Monday by Trump administration officials would bar asylum-seekers from Mexico in the U.S. from applying for work permits for a year after arriving in the country, drawing criticism for the White House's continuing attacks on immigrants.
NBC Newsreported on Monday that the policy is in development. The new rules are expected to be announced this week.
A Monday meeting between outgoing secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan and the heads of Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP) and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) was expected to iron out the details of the new policy. Chad Wolf was named Friday as McAleenan's successor.
According to NBC News, the policy "is meant to target Mexican families seeking asylum, a demographic that has recently risen while the number of Central Americans has decreased since May." Current policy bars work permits for 150 days; it takes the average asylum-seeker two years to get through the U.S. court system.
The expected policy proposal comes more than two months after BuzzFeed Newsreported that DHS was considering banning work permits completely for asylum-seekers. The new set of proposed rules, NBC said, are more narrowly targeted:
One of the DHS officials said proponents of the policy believe prolonging the period when Mexicans are not allowed to work while they wait for their claim will deter them from coming to the U.S. in the first place.
Critics sounded off on the proposed restrictions, the latest example of what immigration expert Marshall Fitz called the Trump administration's "relentless cruelty" toward the country's immigrant population.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), in a tweet, condemned the proposed policy as not only morally wrong but economically shortsighted.
"Communities that take in refugees see their economies grow," said Chu. "That's a fact. So there is no benefit to this policy."
"Prohibiting refugees from working is damning them to poverty," Chu added. "Trump is willing to hurt our economy just so that he can hurt immigrants first."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A proposal being discussed Monday by Trump administration officials would bar asylum-seekers from Mexico in the U.S. from applying for work permits for a year after arriving in the country, drawing criticism for the White House's continuing attacks on immigrants.
NBC Newsreported on Monday that the policy is in development. The new rules are expected to be announced this week.
A Monday meeting between outgoing secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan and the heads of Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP) and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) was expected to iron out the details of the new policy. Chad Wolf was named Friday as McAleenan's successor.
According to NBC News, the policy "is meant to target Mexican families seeking asylum, a demographic that has recently risen while the number of Central Americans has decreased since May." Current policy bars work permits for 150 days; it takes the average asylum-seeker two years to get through the U.S. court system.
The expected policy proposal comes more than two months after BuzzFeed Newsreported that DHS was considering banning work permits completely for asylum-seekers. The new set of proposed rules, NBC said, are more narrowly targeted:
One of the DHS officials said proponents of the policy believe prolonging the period when Mexicans are not allowed to work while they wait for their claim will deter them from coming to the U.S. in the first place.
Critics sounded off on the proposed restrictions, the latest example of what immigration expert Marshall Fitz called the Trump administration's "relentless cruelty" toward the country's immigrant population.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), in a tweet, condemned the proposed policy as not only morally wrong but economically shortsighted.
"Communities that take in refugees see their economies grow," said Chu. "That's a fact. So there is no benefit to this policy."
"Prohibiting refugees from working is damning them to poverty," Chu added. "Trump is willing to hurt our economy just so that he can hurt immigrants first."
A proposal being discussed Monday by Trump administration officials would bar asylum-seekers from Mexico in the U.S. from applying for work permits for a year after arriving in the country, drawing criticism for the White House's continuing attacks on immigrants.
NBC Newsreported on Monday that the policy is in development. The new rules are expected to be announced this week.
A Monday meeting between outgoing secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan and the heads of Customs and Border Enforcement (CBP) and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) was expected to iron out the details of the new policy. Chad Wolf was named Friday as McAleenan's successor.
According to NBC News, the policy "is meant to target Mexican families seeking asylum, a demographic that has recently risen while the number of Central Americans has decreased since May." Current policy bars work permits for 150 days; it takes the average asylum-seeker two years to get through the U.S. court system.
The expected policy proposal comes more than two months after BuzzFeed Newsreported that DHS was considering banning work permits completely for asylum-seekers. The new set of proposed rules, NBC said, are more narrowly targeted:
One of the DHS officials said proponents of the policy believe prolonging the period when Mexicans are not allowed to work while they wait for their claim will deter them from coming to the U.S. in the first place.
Critics sounded off on the proposed restrictions, the latest example of what immigration expert Marshall Fitz called the Trump administration's "relentless cruelty" toward the country's immigrant population.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), in a tweet, condemned the proposed policy as not only morally wrong but economically shortsighted.
"Communities that take in refugees see their economies grow," said Chu. "That's a fact. So there is no benefit to this policy."
"Prohibiting refugees from working is damning them to poverty," Chu added. "Trump is willing to hurt our economy just so that he can hurt immigrants first."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.