Work Permits for Immigrants Extended After Plea by 70 Legislators, Including 2 from San Diego
Just two days after 70 legislators signed a letter urging the White House to prevent a work-permit lapse for immigrants, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday responded.
The agency tripled the automatic extension period after San Diego-area Reps. Juan Vargas and Sara Jacobs joined 68 of their Democratic congressional colleagues in submitting a letter to President Biden, the Department of Homeland Security and the USCIS.
The missive imploring BIden’s administration to lengthen the current automatic extension period for work permits, also known as employment authorization documents.
The USCIS action extended the period from 180 to 540 days, moving the expiration far ahead, to April 19, 2025. It had been less than three weeks away.
“I’m glad to see the Biden Administration take this step to extend work permits for immigrants and asylum seekers whose permits were at risk of expiring soon. This will help give workers and their families more of the certainty they deserve,” Vargas told City News Service.
The letter was signed by 60 representatives and 10 senators in all.
Employment authorization documents are typically valid for 180 days after their set expiration date. In May 2022, USCIS issued a temporary final rule that extended this grace period to 540 days, because the agency faced significant delays in processing renewal applications, the authors of the letter wrote.
That extension period ended Oct. 26, 2023, and since then, all documents were renewed for 180 days, and tentatively set to expire this month.
The temporary measure announced Thursday will prevent already work-authorized non-citizens from having their authorizations and documentation lapse while waiting for federal agencies to process documents.
“Over the last year, the USCIS workforce reduced processing times for most (employment authorization document) categories, supporting an overall goal to improve work access to eligible individuals,” said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou. “However, we also received a record number of employment authorization applications, impacting our renewal mechanisms.
The agency’s move allows applicants to avoid lapses in employment authorizations, Jaddou said, while giving DHS an additional window to shape long-term solutions and solicit public comments.
Before the extension was approved, nearly 800,000 renewal applicants – including asylum, Temporary Protected Status and green card applicants – were in danger of suffering lapses in their employment authorization.
From 60,000 to 80,000 employers would be negatively impacted as a result of such a lapse, according to a statement from USCIS.
Source: Times of San Diego