DHS ends Biden’s automatic renewal policy for migrant work permits, requires full revetting in 2025

The Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agency will announce a new rule Wednesday requiring all migrants to go through a full revetting before their work permits can be renewed. Here’s what you need to know about the policy change and its impact on work authorization for migrants:

New vetting requirements

Trump administration rolls back Biden-era automatic renewals:

• Department of Homeland Security’s immigration agency will announce new rule Wednesday requiring all migrants to go through full revetting before their work permits can be renewed
• That rolls back Biden-era policy that had allowed renewals even without checks being completed
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which shared new regulation first with Washington Times, said Biden policy had granted unprecedented leniency and had introduced new national security vulnerabilities

Previous automatic extension system

Biden policy provided 540-day renewals without verification:

• Under that policy, migrants whose work permits were expiring were granted automatic 540-day renewal once they filed new application, but before USCIS performed any of its verification checks to make sure person was still entitled under program, and still had clean record
• USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said his agency, under President Trump’s orders, is putting new emphasis on vetting of aliens, and his new policy delivers on that
• “It’s commonsense measure to ensure appropriate vetting and screening has been completed before alien’s employment authorization or documentation is extended,” he said
• “All aliens must remember that working in United States is a privilege, not a right”

Importance of work permits

EADs provide pathway to legal employment and benefits:

• Work permits, officially known as Employment Authorization Documents or EADs, are seen as Holy Grail in immigration world
• They not only open up opportunities for legal jobs, but are often proxy for some tentative legal status
• Holders can get Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses and obtain some taxpayer benefits
• Immigration officers will sometimes even accept EAD as proof of status
• Wide range of migrants with less than permanent status can apply for work permits, including those with firm legal status — such as spouses of guest workers — and those without, such as asylum-seekers, “Dreamers” here under DACA program, and those granted Temporary Protected Status

Security concerns cited

DHS points to specific criminal cases:

• Ian Roberts, illegal immigrant recently arrested and fired from his job as superintendent of public schools in Des Moines, Iowa, had previously held work authorization
• So had Mohamed Sabry Soliman, man charged with Molotov cocktail attack earlier this year on pro-Israel demonstration in Boulder, Colorado
• Homeland Security said he overstayed his visa but applied for asylum in 2022, and through that application — even though he hadn’t yet been approved for asylum — had been granted work permit and then automatic 540-day renewal

Noem’s rationale

Homeland Security Secretary explains policy change:

• “This attack by alien against peaceful demonstrators highlights critical need and urgency to ensure that aliens are not provided immigration benefits in United States without thorough vetting and more frequent determinations of continued eligibility and, when applicable, determinations that alien continues to merit favorable exercise of discretion,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says in regulatory filing in Federal Register describing her new policy
• She said automatic renewal “provides significant benefit to aliens without adequate vetting”

Application surge under Biden

Work permit requests exploded during previous administration:

• Work permit applications have exploded in recent years, in large part due to President Biden’s lenient approach to immigration enforcement
• USCIS recorded 3.5 million initial applications and 1.3 million renewals in fiscal 2024, last full year under Mr. Biden
• By contrast in 2020, last full year in Mr. Trump’s previous administration, there were fewer than 2 million applications received

Policy specifics

New rule eliminates automatic extensions entirely:

• New policy doesn’t change initial approval of EADs, which had always required vetting
• But since EADs have expiration dates, they need to be renewed if migrant is still in U.S. without more permanent status, which is where revetting comes into play
• Ms. Noem said Biden administration got so overwhelmed with cases that it was unable to do all vetting in time. Its answer was to take already existing 180-day automatic renewal and triple it, resulting in 540-day policy
• Then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said it would help migrants maintain their jobs, and give businesses continuity in their workplaces
• Ms. Noem, in her new policy, ditches both 540-day extension and previous 180-day automatic extension

Implementation timeline

Rule takes effect immediately for new applications:

• She said migrants who want to renew their work permits should apply ahead of time to make sure they meet deadlines
• But she also said there’s less of chance of USCIS missing its own deadlines because Mr. Trump has done such good job of cutting down on illegal immigration, which has reduced workload
• Actual processing times vary widely depending on type of status, ranging from about month for initial approval for someone with pending asylum application to more than 10 months for EAD for someone seeking suspension of deportation or cancelation of removal

Regulatory process

Interim final rule bypasses usual comment period:

• Wednesday’s policy is in form of interim final rule
• That means it will take effect for all applications submitted Oct. 30 and thereafter. Usual notice and comment period follows afterward rather than coming in advance
• Ms. Noem said security risks of granting EAD renewals without full vetting justify not having notice and comment come first
• She pointed to Colorado attack as evidence
• She also said if she had allowed notice and comment, USCIS would have been flooded with renewal applications by migrants looking to get in under wire and avoid new vetting

Read more:

• DHS to end Biden’s automatic renewal of migrants’ work permits under new rule