October 23, 2024

Warren, Gillibrand, Frost, Espaillat Lead Coalition of 70 Lawmakers in Pushing for DHS, USCIS to Clear Work Permit Backlog for Migrants By End of Year

1.4 million EAD applications are currently in backlog, including roughly 900,000 first-time applicants; 500,000 seeking renewals

“We know that the faster that immigrant families receive work permits, the sooner they can support themselves and better integrate into host communities across the United States.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, DC — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), along with Representatives Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), led a bicameral letter signed by 70 lawmakers to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Jaddou, urging the elimination of the lengthy application backlog for work permits (or “employment authorization documents,” EADs) before the end of the year. 1.4 million EAD applications currently await processing, including roughly 900,000 first-time applicants and 500,000 people seeking renewals.

“As Members of Congress who represent diverse and vibrant immigrant communities, we know that the faster that immigrant families receive work permits, the sooner they can support themselves and better integrate into host communities across the United States,” wrote the lawmakers.

Despite historic progress made under the Biden-Harris Administration — such as extending the validity periods of expiring EADs and introducing online application options — the backlog remains a substantial obstacle, impeding immigrants’ ability to legally work and integrate into their communities.

“Many of those families are at the mercy of USCIS’s bureaucratic processing delays and remain unable to legally work and support themselves financially for weeks, months, or longer,” wrote the lawmakers.

As such, the lawmakers urged the Administration to ramp up efforts to eliminate the significant backlog before the end of the year. Specifically, the lawmakers pushed DHS to surge additional technological and staffing resources to EAD processing and streamline the process for individuals seeking parole or re-parole to obtain permission to work. The lawmakers also urged USCIS to promptly finalize its rule lengthening the automatic extension period for expiring permits, and advised the agency to permit the receipt provided after submission of an application to temporarily serve as a provisional permit until the full application is processed. The lawmakers then posed a series of questions about USCIS’s current efforts to expedite EAD processing.

“We once again thank DHS for its ongoing commitment and engagement on this issue, and we urge USCIS to implement the actions above,” wrote the lawmakers. “Doing so will help ensure that immigrant families are not left for months or years with no way to legally support themselves, mutually benefiting the families and their host communities.”

The following Senators also signed on in support of the letter: Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). 

The following Representatives also signed on in support of the letter: Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Sheila Cherfilus McCormick (D-Fla.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.),  John Garamendi (D-Calif.), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Tex.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

"Immigrants who are working in local communities throughout the United States are in danger of falling out of the workforce as a result of processing backlogs," said Conchita Cruz, Co-Executive Director at the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), a membership organization of over 600,000 asylum seekers. “Our members want to work to provide for themselves and their families, and want to give back to the communities that have given them a safe place to live and work. We must prioritize getting work permits into the hands of asylum seekers and other immigrants who play integral roles in contributing to communities across the United States."

Senator Warren has led ongoing efforts to protect the rights of asylum seekers and other new arrivals, and to hold the United States accountable to its humanitarian obligations: 

  • In March 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) joined colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and USCIS Director Jaddou, urging DHS to swiftly finalize a rule to lengthen the automatic extension period for EADs from 180 days to a minimum of 540 days.
  • In November 2023, Senators Warren, Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and USCIS Director Jaddou, commending DHS for the steps it has taken to expand access to EADs for eligible noncitizens, and laying out several policy proposals to help address issues with EADs. 
  • In September 2023, Senators Warren and Markey applauded the Biden administration’s redesignation of TPS for Venezuelan migrants.
  • In August 2023, Senators Warren and Markey and Representatives Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Bill Keating (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Secretary Mayorkas and Director Jaddou, urging them to expedite the processing of EADs for individuals paroled into the United States, which would lessen the strain on available humanitarian and housing resources. 
  • In March 2023, Senators Warren, Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and 9 other senators submitted a public comment against the Biden administration’s proposed rule to restrict asylum at the southern border. The senators called on the Biden administration to withdraw the rule in its entirety.
  • In January 2023, Senator Warren and nearly 70 other lawmakers sent a letter urging President Biden to reverse his Administration’s expansion of the inhumane Trump-era border policy known as Title 42 and to abandon the proposed asylum “transit ban” rule. The lawmakers also encouraged the President and his Administration to work with Congress to develop safe, humane, and orderly border policies that enforce our immigration laws and uphold the right to asylum under domestic and international law.
  • In September 2022, Senator Warren led members of the Massachusetts delegation in a letter to DHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency calling for funding from the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to be allocated swiftly to organizations assisting newly arrived migrants in Massachusetts. 
  • In September 2022, Senator Warren released a statement condemning efforts to use asylum seekers as political pawns and committing to assisting communities in need. 
  • In November 2021, Senator Warren stated her opposition to the continued use of Title 42 to expel asylum seekers and called for the Biden administration to rescind this policy.
  • In October 2021, Senator Warren joined Senator Menendez in criticizing the inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants and called on the Administration to support long-term stability in Haiti.  
  • In October 2021, Senator Warren called on Chris Magnus to commit to transparency regarding the investigation into the events in Del Rio, Texas during his confirmation hearing to be CBP Commissioner.

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