Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project
The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting for a future where the United States welcomes individuals fleeing violence. With over 175,000 members from over 175 countries, ASAP is now the largest organization of asylum seekers in the United States. ASAP members share a common goal: to work toward building a humane, welcoming, and accessible asylum system in the United States. ASAP members engage together in efforts to make change, including through high-impact social justice litigation and policy advocacy.
THE CASE
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In 2020, ASAP members voted to challenge new rules proposed by the Trump administration that would severely limit asylum seekers’ ability to obtain work authorization. The new rules would have eliminated the 30 day processing requirement for asylum seekers’ work permit applications, forced asylum seekers to wait 365 days in order to be eligible to apply for work permits, have added new biometrics requirements and fees, barred many groups of asylum seekers from receiving work permits altogether (including those with certain criminal convictions and those who entered the United States not at a port of entry), and imposed other harmful changes.
On September 11, 2020, the district court ruled in ASAP’s favor in CASA v. Mayorkas (originally CASA v. Wolf) and issued a limited preliminary injunction that protected asylum seekers’ ability to work -- but only if they were members of ASAP or another organization, CASA. Since that preliminary injunction, ASAP has helped over 100,000 asylum seekers successfully receive work permits. We are currently working to expand the court’s protections in the CASA litigation for all asylum seekers. ASAP has a hearing scheduled for December 20, 2021 before Judge Xinis in the District of Maryland on ASAP's motions for summary judgment, motion to expand the preliminary injunction, and the government's cross-motion for summary judgment. The generous support of the McDowell Foundation grant will allow ASAP and its members to continue to litigate this case.
Also, in response to ASAP members' priorities, on November 10, 2021, ASAP brought a new lawsuit to address the related problem of long delays in work permit renewals. Unreasonably long delays in the processing of renewal work permits have forced many asylum seekers to lose their jobs and only means of support. Five ASAP members are plaintiffs in this new class action lawsuit, Tony N. v. USCIS. ASAP has a hearing scheduled for December 17, 2021 before Judge Chesney of the Northern District of California to address the organization's motions for a preliminary injunction and class certification.
GRANT AMOUNT
$50,000 (2022)
MEDIA COVERAGE
CNN: 'Quite disruptive': Months-long processing delays leave people out of work amid nationwide labor shortage
Bloomberg: Asylum Seekers Face Loss of Work, Pay as Paperwork Delays Mount
The Washington Post: The missing immigrant workers