WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is reversing a Biden-era policy that automatically extended work permits for migrants by roughly a year and a half, citing national security concerns.
Department of Homeland Security officials announced Wednesday an interim final rule that will eliminate the 540-day grace period for immigrants renewing the employment authorization documents (EADs).
The millions of migrants who entered the US under former President Joe Biden had caused massive backlogs in the process, making it difficult to complete the renewals in the six-month timeframe previously in place.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in the interim final rule argued that “robust vetting” had been hampered as a result.
The Trump Cabinet official wrote that in part the “need to conduct complete and thorough vetting of applicants for renewal EADs to mitigate potential risks to public safety and national security became abundantly clear on June 1, 2025, when an alien firebombed and assaulted demonstrators at a peaceful Jewish event to support hostages in Gaza.”
“The alien threw Molotov cocktails that burned multiple victims, and his attack injured 15 people. The alien had entered the United States in August 2022 and remained in the United States beyond the expiration of his nonimmigrant status,” she explained.
“He applied for asylum in September 2022, and that application was still pending at the time of the attack. He also obtained an EAD based on a pending asylum application which was then automatically extended for a period of up to 540 days,” she added.
“This attack by an alien against peaceful demonstrators highlights the critical need and urgency to ensure that aliens are not provided immigration benefits in the United States without thorough vetting and more frequent determinations of continued eligibility and, when applicable, determinations that the alien continues to merit a favorable exercise of discretion.”
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the Egyptian national whom Noem referenced, was later charged with 118 criminal counts by state prosecutors for hurling Molotov cocktails at peaceful marchers during an event to honor Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colo.
Other cases of migrants present in the US on work permits committing crimes were also cited in the interim rule.
At least 1.3 million non-citizens had work permits renewed in fiscal year 2024, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The rule will start on Oct. 30 with exceptions, including some foreigners using work permits under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
“USCIS is placing a renewed emphasis on robust alien screening and vetting, eliminating policies the former administration implemented that prioritized aliens’ convenience ahead of Americans’ safety and security,” said its director Joseph Edlow in a statement.
“It’s a commonsense measure to ensure appropriate vetting and screening has been completed before an alien’s employment authorization or documentation is extended. All aliens must remember that working in the United States is a privilege, not a right.”
The Biden administration extended the grace period from 180 days to 540 days in December 2024, while at the same time opening up employment authorization to a wider swathe of immigrants such as asylum seekers, refugees, green card holders and alien spouses of H-1B visa holders, among others.
Both those grace periods have now been scrapped with the rule taking effect and employers will have to begin firings of some foreign workers no longer shielded by the policy.
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