ILAP Public Comment: End of Work Permit Automatic Extensions
Submitted via regulations.gov
Business and Foreign Workers Division
Office of Policy and Strategy
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS
5900 Capital Gateway Drive
Camp Springs, MD 20746
RE: Removal of the Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization Documents, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Interim Final Rule, DHS Docket No. USCIS-2025-0271, RIN 1615-AD05
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, (ILAP), respectfully submits the following comments regarding the USCIS Interim Final Rule (IFR), Removal of the Automatic Extension of Employment Authorization Documents, DHS Docket No. USCIS-2025-0271. ILAP recommends this IFR – which has no legitimate underlying public policy rationale – be immediately withdrawn in its entirety and the previous final rule granting 540-day automatic extensions of certain work permits be restored. No person who has permission under U.S. law to work and wants to work should lose work authorization due to the federal government’s own processing delays.
I. About ILAP and Interest in Proposed Changes:
ILAP is Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, serving low-income people across the state who would otherwise not have access to immigration legal services. ILAP serves upwards of 3,000 people each year. Our clients include asylum seekers, Temporary Protected Status applicants and holders, Violence Against Women Act applicants, and others who will be impacted by this IFR. Through our practice over the last 30 years and our longstanding partnerships with organizations led by and serving Maine’s immigrant communities, ILAP has deep understanding of and expertise in the key role that access to a work permit plays in individuals and families finding security and stability, while providing vast benefits to communities, businesses, and Maine’s economy at large.
II. Comments:
A. The IFR’s Primary Justification That the End of Automatic Extensions of Certain Work Permits is Necessary to Prioritize “Proper Vetting and Screening” and “National Security” is Not Substantiated or Plausible.
2024 Department of Homeland Security analysis concluded that automatic extensions of certain work permits were needed to avoid “substantial and unnecessary harm,” and to “lead to less turnover costs for U.S. employers.”[1] That analysis did not identify concerns about U.S. national security.[2] The IFR offers no data or credible rationale for its new finding. The IFR includes claims that are not supported by any substantiating evidence, for example that work permit automatic extensions could allow noncitizens in the U.S. to “generate income to potentially finance nefarious activities that pose an imminent threat to the American public.” These unsupported claims perpetuate anti-immigrant rhetoric and do not further any legitimate public policy concern.
In reality, the previous final rule was narrowly crafted to address the underlying issue of people experiencing gaps in work authorization at no fault of their own while ensuring that they would be in a category that remained eligible for employment authorization (such as a person seeking asylum whose case may take many years to process under current government timelines). Anyone who is applying for a work permit renewal has already submitted extensive biographic and biometric information, undergone background checks and passed vetting processes, and been approved to work. A person submitting a work permit renewal is not someone trying to live under the radar, they are seeking to follow the law and continue working lawfully to support themselves, their families, and make contributions to their communities and the United States as a whole.
B. The IFR’s Claim That “Proper Planning” By Applicants Could Avoid Them Experiencing Lapses in Work Authorization is Completely Unsubstantiated and Could Actually Worsen Backlogs.
In 2022, USCIS issued a temporary final rule to address the serious and systemic issue of people experiencing lapses in their work authorization due to federal government processing delays.[3] In 2024, as 800,000 people continued to be at risk of work authorization gaps at no fault of their own, USCIS finalized that rule, granting 540-day automatic extensions for certain impacted work permit categories.[4] In this IFR, USCIS asserts that the issue can be addressed by “proper planning” by work permit renewal applicants but does not define what that is and offers no evidence of this claim based on the agency’s actual operations.
USCIS’ current recommendation is for an applicant to file a work permit renewal up to 180 days before their current work permit expires. Because the intent of a work permit renewal is for people to be able to work uninterrupted, USCIS practice is to issue renewal work permits that overlap (instead of being consecutive). This means, if a person were to file before USCIS’ recommended time frame, their work authorization period would be reduced and may actually lead to even more work permit applications being filed with USCIS. That being said, it is unclear whether USCIS actually would accept a renewal application prior to 180 days before expiration, which makes the process even more unpredictable.
An estimated 900,000 people could be impacted by this IFR.[5] A surge and then ongoing more frequently filed renewal applications could result in even more gaps in work authorization, completely outside the control of the applicant.
C. The IFR Will Needlessly Harm Vulnerable People in Need of a Stable Income, Including Domestic Violence Victims.
Those impacted by this IFR include people seeking humanitarian immigration protections including asylum, Temporary Protected Status, and protections for noncitizen victims of domestic violence. These, among other vulnerable groups impacted by this rule, face extreme destabilization from gaps in work authorization which may include them not being able to meet basic human needs. For domestic violence victims, access to work may be one of the key factors that allows them (and their children) to escape abuse and life-threatening circumstances. The IFR offers no justification for harming people that Congress has explicitly determined should be protected under our immigration system and given access to work as part of that protection.
D. The IFR Will Undercut Maine’s Already-Shrinking Workforce, Businesses, and Economic Prosperity, Which Rely on the Contributions of Immigrant Communities.
According to a recent study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Maine is facing unprecedented workforce shortages, with just 54 workers available for every 100 open jobs.[6] The Chamber rates Maine’s labor shortage in the “most severe” category.[7] Projections show that Maine’s workforce will continue to shrink over the coming years.[8]
Maine’s immigrant communities are key to improving Maine’s economic outlook, with higher percentages of working age people, as well as high levels of education and other talent and experience to offer.[9] Recognizing this, in 2024, Maine established a statewide agency with the mission of investing in Maine’s immigrant communities in order to bolster and strengthen the workforce.[10] There is also bipartisan support across Maine’s Congressional delegation[11] and across Maine state legislators[12] for asylum seekers in Maine to be able to work. This IFR is in contravention of that bipartisan support in Maine and undermines strategies already in place to strengthen the economy and well-being of all Maine residents, noncitizens and citizens alike. In addition to the clearly foreseeable damage to Maine’s immigrant workforce and their employers under this IFR, the requirement of more frequent work permit renewal applications will altogether add to USCIS’ backlog, threatening access to immigration benefits and work permits more broadly, having cascading harms.
III. Conclusion:
In conclusion, ILAP recommends that USCIS immediately withdraw this deeply counterproductive and altogether unjustifiable IFR in its entirety and reinstate the previous automatic extension policy. Thank you for your consideration of our comments. Please contact ILAP’s Policy Director, Lisa Parisio, at lparisio@ilapmaine.org for any questions or additional information.
Sincerely,
Susan Roche
Executive Director
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
489 Congress Street, 3rd Floor
Portland, ME 04101
[1] 89 Fed. Reg. 101208 (Dec. 13, 2024).
[2] 81 Fed. Reg. 82398 (Nov. 18, 2016); 89 Fed. Reg. 101208 (Dec. 13, 2024).
[3] 2022 temporary rule referenced in 89 Fed. Reg. 101208 (Dec. 13, 2024).
[4] Id.
[5] Categories Previously Eligible for Automatic Extensions, American Immigration Lawyers Association (Nov. 3, 2025), https://www.aila.org/library/cheat-sheet-categories-previously-eligible-for-automatic-extensions.
[6] Lindsay Cates and Stephanie Ferguson, Understanding America’s Labor Shortage: The Most Impacted States, U.S. Chamber of Commerce (May 2, 2024), www.uschamber.com/workforce/the-states-suffering-most-from-the-labor-shortage?state=me.
[7] Id.
[8] Maine's Immigrant Population Offers a Diverse, Important Resource for the State's Economic Future, Migration Policy Institute (Oct. 28, 2025), https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/maine-immigrant-population-report.
[9] Id.
[10] Maine Office of New Americans, https://www.maine.gov/future/ona.
[11] Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act of 2023 Bill Summary, National Immigration Forum, (2023), https://forumtogether.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Bill-Summary-_-Asylum-Seeker-Work-Auhtorization-FINAL.pdf.
[12] Randy Billings, Maine asks for federal waiver to let asylum seekers go to work, Portland Press Herald (Oct. 25, 2023), https://www.pressherald.com/2023/10/25/maine-asks-for-federal-waiver-to-let-asylum-seekers-go-to-work/.