On June 22, 2020, President Trump issued a proclamation that addressed the Department of Homeland Security’s administration of employment authorization benefits. Officers are now reminded that aside from relying on legal statutes and regulations, they should refer to existing guidance which has been consolidated in the USCIS Policy Manual during the exercise of discretion in adjudications on employment authorization.

During the adjudication of cases where discretion of a USCIS officer is required, if a requestor of a benefit establishes if is not inadmissible under law and positive discretionary factors present in the case outweigh any negative factors, the USCIS officer should favorably exercise discretion. For benefits requiring discretion, a discretionary analysis is a separate component of the adjudication of the benefit requires. This will be assessed at the end of the review, after an officer determines that the requestor meets all other applicable eligibility requirements. This will be based on a case-by-case determination subject to the discretion of the USCIS officer.

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