Alexandra, who asked us not to reveal her last name, arrived hopeful at 3 in the morning at the central Immigration office in Lower Manhattan.
They did not attend her and told her that she must appear in a month for the so-called ‘check-in’ but that they will not explore her case for at least a year.
With just 3 weeks in the city, the Ecuadorian woman is desperate to work to feed her children.
“We have not come to do anything wrong, what we want is to work to be able to get ahead,” said Alexandra.
But she and her husband are among the thousands of asylum seekers the government will not be able to process until after 2032 – ten years – with current resources, since after 2021, most asylum seekers have have to register with an ICE officer before being able to access the immigration court.
“Migrants who come to New York and who do not have a court hearing date, or who have not started their immigration paperwork face delays of a decade right now,” immigration attorney Luis Gómez Alfaro explained. It’s that the government at some point will be able to use technology or increased staffing to increase appointments and reduce waiting.”
New York, with migrants sent from states to the south of the country, faces the worst bottleneck in the entire country.
The ICE Appointment Scheduler web portal has worked for some.
“I have court in September and my asylum process is advancing as quickly as possible,” said José Chiluiz, a Guatemalan immigrant.
Chiluiz.
For others, accessing the internet or getting a smartphone makes all the difference.
Without a lawyer, the so-called “digital divide” is holding back the majority of applicants who came to the United States without resources.
“That is what is stopping us in his search for an asylum case and a work permit,” added attorney Gómez Alfaro.
Technological tools such as “Identogo” are already helping applicants for services before Family Courts in New York.
This could be a solution To be implemented with the Federal court and the migration service.
