US immigration officials are pushing a proposal to significantly increase the amount of time asylum-seekers must wait to obtain a work permit for legal employment in the US, sources close to the administration said Wednesday.



The proposal by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services officials, included in a not-yet-finalized regulation, would more than double the time individuals who apply for asylum — either affirmatively while already present in the US or after crossing the border and referred to immigration court — become qualified to receive a work permit, from 180 days to 365 days.

“It doesn’t make any sense. If you’re going to say to a person that they will be considered for asylum and they have to wait, how are they going to feed themselves?” said Ur Jaddou, former chief counsel for USCIS. “How are they going to feed their families? Isn’t that the exact opposite of what we want people to do?”

The federal agency, which is responsible for granting or denying immigration benefits to migrants, has also been working on a separate proposal that would institute a $50 fee for those who file for asylum after entering the US, sources said.

