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BORDER ASYLUM - In August of 2022, Simar and her husband left Venezuela, traveling 2,000 miles from home and joining the over 7 million Venezuelan refugees who’ve fled violence, civil unrest, persecution, and ongoing humanitarian crises. They are now two of the more than 70,000 asylum-seekers who have arrived in New York City in the last year and organizations like mine, Hispanic Federation, have been helping resettle in the city.
Simar and her husband would have wanted nothing more than to stay in Venezuela, but the situation became so dire that leaving was the only option they had. In leaving Venezuela, Simar made the most difficult decision a parent can make—to leave her children behind. Knowing the journey could put the lives of her children at risk, Simar left her three children with her mother when she began her trek to the U.S.
To make their way to refuge, Simar and her husband had to traverse across Colombia and then through the dangerous Darien Gap in Panama before beginning the long, brutal journey through the Central American isthmus and Mexico to the U.S. border. After stops in Tennessee and Chicago, a month ago the couple arrived in New York City. Their temporary home is a shelter in Manhattan alongside other immigrants from throughout the Americas.
Though the recent end of Title 42 means that people like Simar and her husband can once again apply for asylum, qualifying is difficult with refugees vying for 1000 appointments a day through a cell phone app that does not work. As asylum seekers must request asylum outside the U.S., they’re also met with over-capacity shelters—if they’re lucky enough not to be turned away due to capacity—as they wait in limbo in Mexico.
Everyone, including Congress, knew that Title 42 was going to end for more than a year and increase barriers for those seeking asylum, yet they did nothing knowing that the lives of desperate people like Simar hung in the balance.
Instead, their inaction has led to the poor conditions and complicated regulations migrants are now facing as they attempt to overcome the challenges brought on by the end of Title 42. What’s more, for those who do manage to arrive, U.S. cities are woefully under-resourced to help migrants, leaving people without shelter and no means to provide for themselves as work authorizations take at least 180 days.
Immigrants add trillions of dollars to our economy, and expediting work authorization for asylum seekers can help rectify our labor shortage in the U.S.
The timing had me thinking a great deal about Simar and her sacrifice. She showed remarkable bravery and selflessness as a mother by risking her own life to make better lives for her children. She’s one of countless mothers navigating the impossible: how to provide for her family while seeking asylum.
Simar and her husband made this journey because the United States would offer them the chance to work hard and earn money that would make life better for her children in Venezuela. Or at least that’s what she thought.
Despite hoping to get to work right away, Simar, her husband, and so many other asylum seekers don’t have authorization to legally work in the United States, even as their cases go through a bureaucratic immigration system that can last several months. As they wait in limbo, Simar and her husband increasingly rely on the city’s shelter system and organizations like Hispanic Federation for food, healthcare resources, and other everyday goods we take for granted.
Congress can change this by expediting work authorization for asylum-seeking families immediately, helping them leave the shelter system, become self-reliant, free up city and state resources, all while fueling our economy. In fact, immigrants add trillions of dollars to our economy, and expediting work authorization for asylum seekers can help rectify our labor shortage in the U.S.
All of this can be done without overhauling immigration policy that’s become a third-rail in our politics.
My hope is that Simar’s children in Venezuela will come to understand the brave mother that she is. I also hope that her journey isn’t for naught
We acknowledge that the influx of asylum seekers presents a number of challenges, but communication and accountability among federal, state, and local governments can substantially mitigate these challenges. Above all, we desperately need Washington to step up now. Approving expedited work authorization is a common sense policy that would allow asylum seekers to provide for their families without forcing local governments to scramble to provide shelter and other resources.
Simar’s story reflects the experiences of many seeking asylum in the U.S. amidst an uncertain political environment, and I wonder how their children are processing and coping with this difficult situation. My hope is that Simar’s children in Venezuela will come to understand the brave mother that she is. I also hope that her journey isn’t for naught, and that she and her husband are able to do in the U.S. what they risked their lives for—create a better life for their family. Asked if she would have left Venezuela knowing what she knows now, she said “I’d do it again. I’m fighting for my kids.”
(Frankie Miranda is president of Hispanic Federation, one of the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organization. This story was featured in CommonDreams.org.)
