Anyone who applies for political asylum. under the law. is also eligible for work authorization. That is not unique to Nicaraguans. To assert that INS. which cannot convince undocumented aliens to come forward and apply tor legalization. will somehow be able to convince 200.000 Nicaraguans to apply for asylum is ridiculous. The administrations statement is not adequate and it is not enough. There is a troubling aspect. however. about the administrations statement. They seem to imply that the political asylum process should be used as a route to work authorization. Clearly. anyone with a well founded fear of persecution should apply for this status. But. it was not the intention of Congress in the 1980 Refugee Act to turn the asylum process into a jobs program. To ignore any mention of Salvadorans is to turn a cold and callous shoulder on thousands of refugees who have fled a violent civil war. It is also an insult to President Duarte who has publicly put his political reputation on the line by requesting extended voluntary departure from President Reagan. The House will consider legislation at the end of the month to suspend Salvadoran and Nicaraguan deportation for at least 2 yearswhich will provide these people with the proper protection that they deserve. The Senate will consider a similar bill shortly after the House vote. It will be up to the Congress to place the issue on human rights above the administrations desire to play political games.
Keywords matched
Refugee asylum process undocumented deportation refugees