April 4 :
Before thousands of immigrants' work permits expire later this month, 68 Democratic congressmen have urged the Biden administration to expedite rules extending job permission.
Legislators announced in a letter sent Monday that many government-issued licences are due to expire on April 24 for immigrants who sought to renew them in the autumn, leaving businesses and their immigrant staff with more and more questions about the future of their work permission.
As of September 2023, there was a backlog of more than 279,000 renewal applications, and processing delays might reach 16 months.
The letter, which was led by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), argues that "Employers in our states cannot afford to wait until mid-April to know whether their employees will be able to continue working legally."
"These businesses must be able to organise and run their operations with the certainty that their employees will not be inconvenienced by sudden changes in their work authorization status." Legislators have asked the Biden administration to make up for the lengthy processing times for EAD renewal applications by increasing the automatic extension duration for work permits, also known as EADs, from 180 days to at least 540 days.
Immigrants and asylum seekers face the risk of losing their work authorization on April 24, 2024, unless the government approves a new law extending this period. This, they said, may have devastating effects on families and communities. Bureaucratic red tape causes many people to lose their employment, money, and the ability to get driver's licences. The lawmakers expressed their concern about the impact on people's capacity to pay rent, purchase food, and provide for their families.
“If they persist in working without authorization, not only can they face civil penalties, but they may also be removed from the United States.”
Legislators are concerned about the rule's effects on employees, but they also want it finalised soon so it can help businesses and local economies.
Now that the new rule is being considered by the White House, lawmakers are trying to get it passed either as a permanent regulation without a sunset date or as a temporary rule that keeps the benefit in place for at least three years.
The draft rule has 90 days from March 1 to be reviewed by the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, but lawmakers are urging for its finalisation as soon as feasible.
Legislators expressed gratitude for the administration's efforts to resolve immigrant communities' concerns about work permission and the delays in EAD processing that occurred in the previous year. "But unfortunately, we need to take additional measures right now to stop massive layoffs and economic chaos."
A group representing more than 600,000 asylum seekers, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) expressed gratitude to lawmakers for "joining asylum seekers in asking the government to prioritise extending work permits," according to Leidy Perez, director of policy and communications for the organisation.
We are able to help our members get and hold jobs, get driver's licences and professional licences, and maintain health insurance by securing work permits. Prioritising the extension of work permits should be the Biden administration's first priority after hearing the voices of asylum seekers and lawmakers. Joined by Warren and Gillibrand in signing the letter were eight Democrats from the Senate and sixty from the House.
