Trump administration plan could restrict work permits for asylum seekers for years
WASHINGTON- Immigrant advocates fear that a Trump administration proposal released Friday would amount to an indefinite pause on new work permits for asylum seekers.
The proposed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rule would stop accepting work permit applications when the agency’s average processing times exceed 180 days.
The regulation would also extend the time asylum seekers wait before they can apply for a work permit, extending the period from 150 days to 365 days.
The proposal states that USCIS expects new work permit applications for asylum seekers “to be suspended for an extended period of time, possibly several years.”
Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, said the regulations would be catastrophic for asylum seekers, their families and American communities.
“Forcing people who work and live legally in the United States to leave their jobs is not only cruel, it is also bad policy,” she said. “If these regulations go into effect, they will harm American families, businesses, and the economy. »
The proposed regulatory change comes amid efforts by the Trump administration to end humanitarian benefits and restrict legal immigration.
For example, Homeland Security sought to end Temporary Protected Status benefits that granted work permits and protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of immigrants. And in a memo released this week, the agency said its agents are authorized to detain refugees who have not yet filed for legal permanent residency after their first year in the United States.
Under the first Trump administration, agency officials also proposed in 2020 to increase the waiting period for employment eligibility to one year.
