The Missing Link: Connecting Eligible Asylees and Asylum Seekers with Benefits and Services
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Highlights
Asylees are eligible for many U.S. refugee-equivalent benefits but lack systems to connect them. Weak outreach and fragmented data leave many underserved.
- By the end of fiscal year (FY) 2021, more than 1 million asylum cases were pending in the United States, with average processing times reaching about 934 days.
- Asylees qualify for many of the same benefits as refugees, but unlike refugees, they receive no standardized onboarding to explain available services or connect them with providers.
- Asylum seekers face even steeper barriers, including a legal bar on work authorization for at least six months and eligibility for far fewer programs, leaving many vulnerable to poverty and exploitation.
- The report recommends that the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement re-establish a national benefits hotline and that government agencies standardize information packets and orientations for new asylees.
The United States has a long history of providing humanitarian protection, including by resettling refugees who seek protection from abroad and granting asylum to individuals who apply from within the country or at its borders. But even though refugees and asylees are granted protection after fleeing similar forms of harm and their status makes them eligible for many of the same public benefits and services, the system for connecting asylees with this support is much weaker than for refugees.
Explore State and Local Data
Additional data on the number of people granted asylum in recent years in each state or U.S. territory and in top zip codes, plus the top countries of origin for asylees in different states, can be found here:
Multiple options exist under current law to improve asylees’ links to the benefits and services for which they are eligible, as this report explores, and doing so would help support asylees’ well-being and integration. The U.S. communities in which they live would also reap benefits from these investments as asylees upskill to meet staffing shortages, contribute to local economies, and become active members of their communities.
The situation for many asylum seekers is different. While they wait for their asylum cases to be decided—a process that can take several years, given the considerable backlog in immigration courts—they are typically eligible for far fewer public benefits. Nonetheless, support with navigating and accessing the limited programs for which they qualify can help ensure asylum seekers are able to meet their families’ basic needs.
This report describes the benefits and services for which asylees and asylum seekers are eligible, the mechanisms currently in place to connect them with these programs, and opportunities to improve their access to these forms of assistance.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 The Asylum Process in the United States
A. Employment Authorization
B. Policy Changes under the Trump and Biden Administrations
3 Trends in Asylum Claims and Asylum Processing
A. Trends in Asylum Grants
B. Characteristics of Asylees and Asylum Seekers
4 Benefits and Services Available to Asylees and Asylum Seekers
A. Benefits and Services from the State Department and ORR
B. Federal Public Benefits
C. Unemployment Insurance and Employment Services under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
D. Assistance to Children
E. State and Local Benefits
F. Tax Benefits
5 Participation in Federal Benefits and Services
6 Connecting Asylees with Benefits and Services
A. Proactive Outreach and Referral Hotlines
B. Benefits Orientations
C. Case Management
7 Connecting Asylum Seekers with Benefits and Services
A. Emergency Assistance
B. Integrated Legal and Support Services
8 Recommendations
About the Human Services Initiative
The Initiative produced work focusing on U.S. federal, state, and local policies on immigration issues affecting children, families, and health and human services.
About the U.S. Immigration Policy Program
The U.S. Immigration Policy Program provides analysis of U.S. immigration pathways, the impacts of enforcement and other policies, and the characteristics of immigrant populations.
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
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