In light of all the celebrating regarding Obama's proclamation that the government will be reviewing all current deportation cases and granting worker's permits to qualifying immigrants I wanted to take some time to explain what it means to have a worker's permit. I feel this will be helpful information to the thousands of immigrants who will--hopefully--gain a workers permit over the next few month as a result of this new policy. There are certain things a worker's permit entitles an immigrant to; and certain things it doesn't. I don't want to rain on anybody's
parade but I feel it is better to be armed with knowledge rather than just optimism.
My husband has had a worker's permit for years while he has fought his case in the U.S. immigration judicial system. It was granted to him as part of the fees he had to pay to file his appeals. Now, because he cannot be deported and we no longer have any legal avenues left to fight his deportation, he has to apply for a worker's permit every year that he resides in the U.S. This is quite costly and is currently over $400.00 a year. The government reserves the right to increase these fees at anytime. Most years that Khalid has filed for a worker's permit the fee has gone up.
According to the DHS officer who handles Khalid's case, an immigrant who has a worker's permit shows up as having the same status as a citizen in the government's e-verify system. Theoretically speaking that seems to be a positive situation. However, whenever Khalid has applied for another job--unless it's a retail position--the employer always asks if he is a U.S. citizen. Khalid tells the truth and says no. Then comes the inevitable questions..and to make a long story short he is never called back for an interview.
Luckily, my husband already has a stable job as an electrical technician and they are well aware of his immigration status. However, he is not fairly compensated for his electrical knowledge or degree and could get paid a substantial sum more if he could find another job in electrical engineering. In order to make ends meet he has to work two jobs: one as an electrical tech and another in a retail store.
To make a long story short a worker's permit oftentimes only allows an immigrant to procure a very low wage job. It is, in no way, akin to having a green card. Most employers nowadays only want to hire a green card holder, or a citizen. Activists cannot rest until our immigrant friends and family are given an adjustment of status. Anything else is essentially a waste of our time.
1 comment:
Since my husband's family is from El Salvador, a lot of them have TPS, Temporary Protected Status. They basically get SSN's and permits to work. BUT, each year the TPS for El Salvador is up for renewal. At any point this TPS could be taken away if not renewed and a lot of our family would then be in trouble after living here for 10 years or more. It seems like a great set-up because they are not "illegal", but they pay all the fees every year and their futures lie is someone else's hands. So I agree with you that it's definitely not the holy grail!
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