Trump administration plan could restrict work permits for asylum seekers for years
WASHINGTON— Immigrant advocates fear the Trump administration proposal announced Friday would mean new work permits for asylum seekers would be paused indefinitely.
Draft regulation A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency will stop accepting work permit applications if the agency’s average processing time exceeds 180 days.
The regulation will also extend the time asylum seekers must wait to apply for a work permit, increasing this period from 150 days to 365 days.
The proposal states that USCIS expects new work permit applications for asylum seekers to be “paused for an extended period of time, possibly for many years.”
Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Refugee Advocacy Project, said the regulation would be disastrous for refugees, their families and communities in the United States.
“Forcing people who work and live legally in the United States to lose their jobs is not only cruel, it is bad policy,” he said. “If this regulation goes into effect, it will harm U.S. families, businesses, and the U.S. economy.”
The proposed regulatory change comes amid broad efforts by the Trump administration to end humanitarian aid and restrict legal immigration.
For example, Homeland Security has sought to end Temporary Protected Status benefits, which provide work permits and deportation protection to hundreds of thousands of immigrants. And one note published this weekAgents have the authority to detain refugees who have not yet applied for lawful permanent residence after their first year in the United States, the agency said.
During the first Trump administration, agency officials in 2020 similarly proposed increasing the employment eligibility waiting period to one year.
