A migrant is an umbrella term, not defined under international law, reflecting the common lay understanding of a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons.

An asylum seeker is anyone who has fled persecution in their home country and is seeking a safe haven in a new country but has not yet been granted asylum (refugee status). Asylum seekers wishing to remaint in the United States must file applications within a year of arrival. Under current federal law, an asylum seeker can receive persmission to work in the U.S. 150 days after an asylum application is submitted. There is pending legislation (S. 3665) sponsored by Senator Susan Collins in the Senate and Representative Chellie Pingree in the House (H.R. 6693) to reduce this time to 30 days after an application is filed.

A refugee is any person who is outside their country of origin and unable or unwilling to return there or to avail themseves of its protection on account of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationaltiy, membership ina particular group, or political opinion. The State Departmnt oversees the admission of each refugee to teh states after they have been granted refugee status following individual interviews by Department of Homeland Securtity (DHS) officials, have passed extensive inter-agency security background checks with multiple national security and inteeligence agencies, and have passed health screenings. Refugees are eligible to work upon arrival and may stay in the United States indefinitly.

Learn more about the distiction and access other resources at
Refugee Immigration Services | Catholic Charities of Maine (ccmaine.org)