Micheal Bloomberg is right. Again

Micheal Bloomberg is the very very rich ex-mayor of New York. You might have heard of his namesake company, Bloomberg.

Well, he was mayor of New York for 3 terms. Once as a Republican, twice as an Independent, before running for President as a Democrat. He is also damn intelligent and practical. Like me, he thinks that Asylum seekers should be allowed to work. But he is more intelligent than me and sets out a great case.

For starters, current federal law prevents asylum seekers who have already been admitted into the United States from immediately working. The process of receiving a work authorization can take a year or longer. In the meantime, how are asylum seekers expected to pay rent and feed themselves and their families? This amounts to state-enforced poverty and vagrancy — against people who have shown extraordinary fortitude and grit in journeying here, often at great risk, for the opportunity to work and build a better life.

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New York is hardly alone. Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Denver and other cities are also experiencing an influx of asylum seekers who have no housing and no means of legally earning money. Meanwhile, the federal government is failing to provide the resources necessary to hear asylum cases in anything approaching an expeditious fashion. It can take six or seven years for an applicant’s case to be resolved.

Think about it: We have a system that essentially allows an unlimited number of people to cross our borders, forbids them from working, offers them free housing, and grants them seven years of residency before ruling on whether they can legally stay. It would be hard to devise a more backward and self-defeating system.

Read it all.