DHS to End Automatic Extension of Immigrants’ Work Permits (2)

The Trump administration is removing an automatic grace period for immigrants with pending work permit renewals, a move that will force out of the workforce many people stuck in worsening administrative backlogs.

The Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration adopted regulations giving immigrants with pending renewals of employment authorization documents an automatic extension of 540 days. They’d previously received an automatic extension period of 180 days.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the DHS unit that administers immigration benefits, moved to limit extensions for work permits with a recent influx of asylum seekers in mind. The change comes amid broader efforts by the Trump administration to limit access to temporary humanitarian benefits, including terminating Temporary Protected Status and parole programs.

Its also sought to clamp down on asylum at the border while GOP allies in Congress have imposed new fees on immigrants, including for asylum claims.

But an interim final rule released Wednesday will affect a broad range of immigrants, including refugees, asylum seekers, and dependent visa holders of H-1B workers. Exceptions include extensions for immigrants with employment authorization through TPS and extensions provided by statute.

The rule will take effect Oct. 30, meaning immigrants who file to renew work permits starting Thursday wouldn’t receive any grace period if their application is still pending when current employment documents expire.

Immigrants with pending renewal claims have already been screened at least once—and sometimes multiple times—by the government if they’ve previously renewed work permits. But DHS said ending automatic extensions will allow for more frequent to better enable the government to detect fraud.

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said Wednesday that the Biden administration had “prioritized aliens’ convenience ahead of Americans’ safety and security.”

“It’s a commonsense measure to ensure appropriate vetting and screening has been completed before an alien’s employment authorization or documentation is extended,” he said in a statement. “All aliens must remember that working in the United States is a privilege, not a right.”

The agency could have addressed concerns about vetting in ways less harmful to immigrant workers and the economy, including making processing times more efficient, said Shev Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

“These are individuals who have done nothing wrong on their end,” she said. “They’re already working, they’ve already been vetted, they’ve timely filed their paperwork. And they are being punished based on government delays.”

Immigrants can file to renew employment authorization documents up to 180 days before they expire. As of June 30, more than 47,000 renewal applications were pending six months or more for asylum applicants and more than 165,000 renewals were pending for all work permit holders.

Without major improvements to processing times, the ripple effects of the move will be catastrophic for immigrants, as well as their employers and communities that rely on them to fill critical jobs, said Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project.

“Asylum seekers and other immigrant workers are valued employees and colleagues, and provide critical services to local U.S. communities,” Cruz said. “The primary reason for the work permit auto-extension has been the government’s failure to process work permit applications in a timely fashion—routinely leaving immigrants and their employers waiting for over a year.”