Next step for Venezuelan migrants in NYC: Navigating the bureaucracy

First, Democrats across New York had to help convince President Joe Biden’s administration to offer legal protections for Venezuelan migrants currently living in the U.S., a months-long process that finally concluded late Wednesday night.

Now comes the hard part: helping those same migrants successfully navigate the bureaucracy to get their working papers.

Federal, state and city officials say they’re committed to identifying Venezuelan migrants in New York City who are now eligible for Temporary Protected Status — or TPS, a federal designation that allows them to legally work and remain in the U.S., albeit temporarily — and help them fill out the proper applications.

But that’s not exactly an easy task. Of the more than 60,000 migrants currently in New York City shelters or otherwise in the city’s care, an estimated 15,000 are Venezuelans who are newly eligible for TPS, according to Mayor Eric Adams. On the other hand, federal officials suspect that number to be much higher, about half of the city's migrant population, according to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

In any event, each of the newly eligible Venezuelans will have to send applications in to the federal government before they can be approved for work authorization.

“It's great news,” said Adama Bah, deputy director of Artists-Athletes-Activists, a grassroots group that welcomes and assists migrants arriving at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. “Now we have to implement it.”

Late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would offer temporary legal protections to Venezuelan migrants who arrived in the U.S. by July 31 and have been living here continuously since. The federal government can offer migrants such protections when it isn’t safe for them to return to their home countries.

The announcement followed months of public lobbying by Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul and a bevy of Democratic lawmakers, who all said it could help alleviate the crisis conditions in New York City’s shelter system by allowing more migrants to legally earn income — which, in turn, could help them set out on their own.

The federal government had already partnered with state and city officials on what it called a “month of action” — in which government workers would be dispatched throughout September to help asylum-seekers properly apply for working papers. (Under federal law, migrants seeking asylum can get work authorization but must wait for at least 180 days first.)

Now, that effort will be expanded to also include the thousands of Venezuelans now eligible for TPS — which will allow them to work within about 30 days, according to Hochul.

Hochul’s office says more than 70 state workers from 16 different agencies have already been dispatched to help with the effort. On top of that, the federal government has about 50 workers on the ground in New York for the same purpose, according to the governor.

“I already have volunteer workers from across the state of New York and 16 agencies that are willing to join our National Guard and literally go to individuals, find out who's Venezuelan, find out who's eligible and help them,” Hochul said on Wednesday night on Spectrum News NY1. “And this is something we’re coordinating closely with the city.”

At the same time, the state Department of Labor launched an online portal last month where migrants seeking work can be connected with potential employers — including upstate farmers who are seeking thousands of workers.

Still, some officials questioned whether the surge of personnel will be enough to ensure the paperwork is processed efficiently. Each person seeking TPS protections must fill out a 13-page application, plus another form to receive employment authorization — not to mention stay on top of the federal bureaucracy to ensure their applications are processed.

State Assemblymember Catalina Cruz (D-Queens) said the months of federal delay has led to a “red-tape crisis on our hands.”

“They’re attempting to fix this by throwing 50 additional staffers at the problem, and I think it's going to take a little bit more than that,” said Cruz, who is sponsoring a bill in Albany that would create state-level work permits for migrants — though it would likely face a Republican challenge in court if passed.

The effect of the Biden administration’s latest action will take time to be felt on the ground.

The hope is that Venezuelan migrants will be able to legally work, earn income and get their feet on the ground, which will in turn eventually alleviate pressure on the city’s crowded shelter system, according to Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law professor at Cornell Law School. But even if they do find work, New York City still has a housing crisis that has continuously pushed rent fees upward.

“Even if someone is working, they may not be able to make enough money to afford a house of their own,” Yale-Loehr said. “But at least working gets them off the city shelter system and to a place where they might be able to support themselves and their families. So it's a first step, but we do need to do more.”

Venezuela is ruled by an authoritarian regime and has seen its economy collapse in recent years.

All told, about 41% of the roughly 116,000 migrants who have gone through the city’s shelter system since spring of 2022 have come from Venezuela, according to Anne Williams-Isom, the city’s deputy mayor for health and human services.

But not all of those migrants will be eligible for TPS protections, which do not apply to those who arrived in the U.S. after July 31. Previously, the protections only applied to Venezuelans who arrived prior to early March 2021. Of the estimated 15,000 newly eligible Venezuelans in the city’s care, Adams claims only about 9,500 will be able to receive working papers because the rest are underage — though the federal government estimates are far higher.

On WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Wednesday, Williams-Isom said the city is still trying to determine how the Biden administration’s action will affect the city’s shelter count — and how quickly it may happen.

“That’s what my team will be working on over the next couple days and weeks,” she said.

Bah, of Artists-Athletes-Activists, said there’s more work to be done. She said the Biden administration should expand TPS protections to more countries so those migrants can also have the opportunity to work.

“We need to add other African countries on that list,” Bah said. “There are thousands of other African migrants that are here that need to be included in that TPS.”

Additional reporting by Karen Yi.

This story has been updated to include information about the federal government's estimates of Venezuelan migrants in New York City.