Letter to Hon. Ur Mendoza Jaddou, Director US Citizenship and Immigration Services - Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Reforms

Letter

Dear Director Jaddou,

We write to request U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) consider important
changes that would help asylum seekers with existing Employment Authorization Documents
(EAD) continue working in the United States. Specifically, we ask USCIS increase the automatic
extension of Employment Authorization Documents under 8 CFR 274a.13(d) from 180 to 360
days. This extension would provide asylum seekers that have lawful work authorization the ability
to maintain their employment and provide USCIS enough time to adjudicate the applicant's EAD
renewal application. Additionally, we request that USCIS take all meaningful steps to increase its
capacity to process EAD reauthorizations in a more timely manner. The delays experienced by the
applicants place a significant amount of pressure on them and their employers.

A significant number of asylum seekers--many of whom are immigrants from Venezuela and
Haiti, fleeing political persecution and intense socioeconomic instability--live and work in the
United States under EAD's while they wait for their asylum case to be fully adjudicated.
Unfortunately, many of their EAD's expire before USCIS can process their renewal application,
even after the automatic 180-day extension. Our offices have numerous cases of individuals who
have applied for their renewals in a timely manner but have already lost or will lose their jobs
because their renewal has not been processed by USCIS. Without an EAD, asylum seekers can
neither work nor maintain important identification documents.

We respectfully request that USCIS increase the automatic extension of existing EAD's from 180
to 360 days and take all meaningful steps to increase its capacity to process EAD reauthorizations
in a more timely manner. The individuals applying for EAD reauthorizations are in this country
legally and are simply trying to support themselves and their families while their asylum case is
adjudicated.