Congressman Dan Goldman Urges Biden Administration to Expand Humanitarian Parole for Migrants to Unlock Work Permits
Expanding Use of Humanitarian Parole Would Alleviate Backlog and Expedite Work Permit Eligibility for Migrant Families
Read Letter Here
New York, NY– Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today joined Congressman Chuy García (IL-04) to urge the Biden Administration to expand its use of humanitarian parole to protect and grant work permits to both new migrants and long-term contributing immigrant workers including DACA-eligible, farm workers, and essential workers. This action would also reduce the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) work permit backlog, which stands at about 15 months.
“Everyone who comes to our shores seeking a better life should have every opportunity to fulfill the American Dream,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “The current work permit backlogs are leaving migrants unable to support themselves and their families and are compounding the existing labor shortage that American employers are facing. I continue to urge the Biden Administration to use every tool at its disposal – including expansion of humanitarian parole, temporary protected status designations, and deferred enforced departure designations – to protect migrant families and cut through burdensome red-tape preventing our newest arrivals from supporting themselves and pursuing the American dream while alleviating burdensome costs for local governments.”
Addressing the work permit backlog will help provide work permits as soon as possible while expanding the workforce. The current policy and regulatory structure of Employment Authorization Documents contribute to this backlog, creating unnecessary delays, inefficiencies, and expenses for USCIS. These delays have contributed to uncertainty in the lives of asylum seekers and parolees, as well as their potential employers and their local economies.
Employers face a historic labor shortage which could be improved by expanding access to work permits for migrants. In March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that there were 9.6 million job openings. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce showed that between 20 and 60 percent of jobs remained unfilled in key work sectors including manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, financial services, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality.
Congressman Dan Goldman is committed to ensuring that the United States remains safe and welcoming for immigrants from various walks of life.
Last month, Congressman Dan Goldman and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27) led business and labor leaders in a letter to the Biden Administration requesting that it use its executive authority to expand immediate employment authorization by designating Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure to Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Earlier this year, Congressman Dan Goldman and Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) led a group of 25 Representatives in calling for $800 million in funding for the newly established Shelter and Services Program (SSP) in the FY24 federal budget.
The Congressman has also led the fight to protect unaccompanied migrant children from child labor exploitation and ensure that they have the resources needed to navigate the immigration system through the creation of a children’s docket.
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