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WEKU
WEKU
Jasmine Garsd

There's a labor shortage in the U.S. Why is it so hard for migrants to legally work?

Migrants at the Clinton Hill Shelter seek relief from the overcrowded confinements of 47 Hall St. Residents working as delivery drivers wait for orders to come in on July 19 in Brooklyn, N.Y. (José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR)

At almost any migrant shelter in New York it's easy to see men — sitting on curbs or park benches — waiting. Eddie is one of those people, sitting under a highway overpass, eating a lunch of rice and chicken. He asked that his last name be withheld, because he says he's fleeing violence between armed groups in Colombia.

Eddie wants to apply for asylum but more immediately, he just wants to work. Like so many migrants, he keeps getting asked for work papers. The fact that he doesn't have them, he says, keeps him up at night.

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