U.S. Work Authorization to Be Available
A new recruitment source may soon be available to employers for additional workers to do construction or other work. Up to 4 or 5 million presently undocumented people from other countries are expected to be eligible to pursue lawful temporary work authorization and get a U.S. social security number as a result of President Obama’s Executive Order affecting the operations of the Department of Homeland Security. (The total undocumented population is thought to be about 11 million.) The Executive Order deprioritizes the deportation of parents who have U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident children born before November 20, 2014. The parent must have been in the U.S. since before January 1, 2010, been physically present in the U.S. on November 20, 2014, and lack a criminal history or have only limited misdemeanor convictions. The U.S. citizen son or daughter may be of any age.
Consequences for Employers and Workers
Having U.S. work authorization documentation may make workers more mobile among employers as some who are already working have hesitated to change jobs knowing their documentation to be faulty or nonexistent. Some individuals who may have established their own businesses for making a livelihood may be inclined to seek employment instead. Some employers – owners, contractors, or sub-contractors – may know of undocumented workers whom they will want to encourage to become documented under the Executive Order. Work authorization will be granted for three years.
Procedures
The Department of Homeland Security’s procedures for applying are expected to be developed no later than May 2015.
