(Bloomberg) -- Migrants from Central and South America — many of whom recently arrived to New York City via buses from Texas — should receive fast-tracked work authorization, according to advocates who are calling on the Biden administration to take action. 

“The same humanitarian parole and work authorization response that was rightly afforded to Ukrainians and Afghans is needed for asylum seekers in our own hemisphere,” Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York City, said at a press conference on Wednesday. His organization is helping migrants with their immigration cases as well as providing food and other necessities to them. 

New York’s status as a sanctuary city and one with a mandatory right to shelter has been tested in recent months by politicians from Texas and other border states, who are sending an influx of migrants to the area. As of July, at least 4,000 asylum seekers had entered the city’s already strained shelter system within the last several months.

Migrants from Venezuela and Colombia comprise the majority of recent arrivals to New York, advocates said. Political unrest and violence have marred both countries for years, with Venezuelans' flight from their home country becoming one of the biggest recent humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere. Many, including Venezuelan opposition figures, have relocated to neighboring Colombia.

As of now, the quickest pathway to work authorization would be through Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, which is offered to people from countries earmarked by the Secretary of Homeland Security as experiencing a qualifying conflict or disaster. Those who apply for TPS can simultaneously seek work permits. But Colombian nationals aren’t currently eligible, nor are Venezuelans who arrived in the US after March 8, 2021, per a July update from Department of Homeland Security. The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Asylum is the other route, but takes much longer: An individual can apply for an employment authorization document beginning 150 days after they file for asylum, and must wait an additional 30 days until they can receive the green light to work.

For now, the city is scrambling to bolster its shelter system and triage the newcomers’ most immediate needs. That includes securing as many as 5,000 hotel rooms for families and individuals, while various nonprofits and outreach groups have been working to provide legal assistance, as well as food, water and clothing to those in need. Mayor Eric Adams’s office on Friday announced what it called “Project Open Arms,” a program meant to acclimate the children of asylum-seekers into New York City schools.

Legal outreach workers, who already had full caseloads, are worried they can only help so many people seeking work through existing channels. Guillermo Nolivos, an immigration attorney with offices in New York and Miami, said there are some ways the federal government could help these newcomers. 

“I know that the resources are limited, but they should try to expedite certain benefits such as issuing employment-authorization documents faster so that these immigrants they can get into society,” said Nolvios, who has seen requests for representation triple from last year. His clients want to “work and earn their own living without having to rely on city or government help.”

A 2020 report published by the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity estimated that at least 507,000 New Yorkers were undocumented in 2017, representing about 15% of the city’s immigrant population. Of those who are older than 16, 77.5% have some kind of work — primarily in construction, restaurants or home cleaning — with a median annual income of $25,300.

“What I don’t know, I’ll learn,” said a man from Macarao, Venezuela, who waited for an appointment outside the Catholic Charities headquarters in Manhattan on Wednesday. He didn’t share his name for privacy reasons, and has been in the city with his wife and children, as well as two additional family members with special needs, for about a month. He said he worked as a chauffeur in Venezuela, but has experience in other lines of work, too. “The first thing that comes along, I’ll do,” he said. 

For now, groups like Catholic Charities are creating lists of potential day labor opportunities for migrants, though such work isn’t guaranteed or reliable. 

Wendy, who preferred not to share her last name, left Colombia in March and arrived in New York a month ago. She is now working as a waitress from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. every day, while taking OSHA classes to learn construction skills.

“The pay isn’t very good,” she said, “but it’s work.”

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