Work permits allow noncitizens with legal status to work, but long USCIS processing times are placing U.S. employers and workers at risk

December 14, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday,  U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, joined Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and nine Senate colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to reverse a recent Trump Administration rule that ends automatic extensions of work permits for noncitizens, making it so that previously-vetted and approved individuals with legal status cannot continue to work while they await approval of their work permit renewals.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) interim final rule, announced on October 30, ended the automatic extensions for 18 different categories of noncitizens, including those granted refugee status, asylum status, and temporary protected status, as well as spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants. Due to long USCIS processing wait times, people who submitted work permit renewal applications on time will be left without work authorization while they wait for their application to be processed — sometimes for many months at a time — risking workers’ ability to legally work, through no fault of their own. If implemented, the rule would impact 87 percent of all pending renewals of employment authorization documents.

Prior to this new Trump rule, if a person living legally in the United States filed their work permit renewal request on time, they would automatically receive a work permit extension to ensure they don’t lose their authorization while USCIS processes their renewal. The Senators’ proposal would reinstate that commonsense policy.

“Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s campaign to marginalize noncitizens working here legally is disrupting our entire national economy and devastating employers who rely on their contributions,” said Senator Padilla. “The Administration’s self-defeating rule to deny automatic work permit extensions would force people who have already been vetted to lose their ability to keep working, causing unnecessary strain for immigrants and employers alike. People who have already been screened and authorized to work should be able to keep working, plain and simple.”

“Immigrants who work and contribute to our economy are central to Nevada’s prosperity, and they’re the backbone of the U.S. economy,” said Senator Rosen. “This unfair rule change by the Trump Administration will cause chaos — forcing thousands of immigrants with legal authorization to stop working or be fired by their employer. This will hurt our economy and harm thousands of families, so I’m urging my colleagues to join me in overturning this rule.”

In addition to Padilla, the resolution is cosponsored by Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Angus King (I-Maine), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

Source: Senator Alex Padilla