WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on the decision by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to increase the validity period for initial or renewal Employment Authorization Documents for asylum applicants from one year to two years. Effective October 5, 2016, applicants with pending asylum claims will file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, under category (c)(8). This change applies to all (c)(8)-based applications that are pending as of October 5, 2016 and all such applications filed on or after October 5, 2016.
 
“I believe we have a shared responsibility to demonstrate compassion toward the families and children who have been forced to leave their homelands as a result of persecution or a legitimate fear of persecution. By increasing work authorization from one year to two years, more applicants for asylum will have the ability to pursue opportunities here in the United States and become integrated into our civil society. I am hopeful that this program will facilitate much needed support to refugee families living in Brooklyn and across the United States who have fled extremely inhumane circumstances in their homelands of origin and have risked everything to come here to pursue the full blessings of American life.”

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, the Committee on Ethics and the Committee on Small Business in the House of Representatives, proudly represents Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, Park Slope, Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.