In late June 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced two regulatory changes intended to deprive asylum applicants of the ability to work lawfully in the United States while they await the adjudication of their asylum applications.  By increasing the obstacles asylum seekers overcome to obtain an Employment Authorization Document, commonly known as a “work permit,” the new rules endanger the health and safety of asylum seekers and their families.

The first rule change, effective August 21, 2020, eliminates the requirement that USCIS must process employment authorization applications within 30 days of receiving the application.  This rule change allows USCIS to adjudicate work permit applications for an indeterminate period of time, which will inevitably result in delays.  The government claims this move will deter immigrants from filing “frivolous, fraudulent, or otherwise non-meritorious [asylum] claims.”  But the rule change is more likely to force asylum seekers further into poverty and informal economies, thereby making it more difficult for them to meet their basic needs.

The second rule change, effective August 25, 2020, severely restricts eligibility for work permits while simultaneously increasing the waiting time for work permits.  This too will have dire consequences for asylum seekers struggling to survive while their asylum applications remain pending.  The new measures mandate the government to:

1. substantially delay the issuance of work permits by more than doubling the waiting period to apply from 150 days to 365 days;

2. bar asylum seekers from receiving a work permit if they attempt to enter the United States without inspection on or after August 25, 2020, unless they qualify for very limited exceptions;

3. deny employment authorization for asylum seekers who file their asylum application after the one-year filing deadline, unless granted an exception;

4. prohibit employment authorization for applicants who have been convicted of certain crimes or who are “believed” to have committed a serious non-political crime outside the United States;

5. deny employment authorization applications if the underlying asylum application has experienced “unresolved applicant-caused delays,” such as a request to amend or supplement the asylum application or if the application is being transferred to a different asylum office due to a change in the applicant’s address;

6. automatically terminate an asylum seeker’s work permit without provision for renewal if an immigration judge denies the asylum case and the applicant does not appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) within 30 days, or if the applicant does appeal but the BIA denies the appeal; and

7. limit the employment authorization validity period to a maximum of two years.

The effects of these new directives will be devastating. Currently, the inability to work lawfully for at least six months after seeking asylum often leaves applicants homeless, hungry, and without access to health care.  Because federal law does not provide support such as income, housing, or food assistance to asylum applicants, dramatically increasing the waiting period for a work permit will exacerbate the conditions of poverty in which many asylum applicants find themselves.  Without employment authorization, asylum seekers cannot obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, and often cannot apply for a driver’s license or benefit from public assistance programs that offer safe housing and access to food.  Federal law permits states to provide state-funded benefits to asylum seekers, but only about half of the states have extended benefits to that population.   Even when states do provide some public benefits to asylum applicants, it is often only for children, the elderly, or asylum seekers with specific health conditions.

Given these consequences, pro bono attorneys representing asylum seekers who are eligible to apply for a new work permit or to renew an existing work permit now should consider filing employment authorization applications before August 21, when the first of these rules goes into effect.

Co-Author Angela Gichinga.