A group of asylum-seekers is pursuing a summary judgment against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security due to ongoing delays in processing employment authorization requests. A preliminary injunction issued in 2020 requires DHS to process work authorization requests for asylum-seekers within a 30-day timeline. However, the group claims the requests are not being processed accordingly, causing harm.

Since April 2022, the U.S. government has processed the oldest employment authorization requests first. This includes some that are not included in this particular case. As such, the group claims the court is not abiding by the injunction. The result is an ongoing inability to work, causing loss of income and potentially loss of positions.

The 2020 injunction required the government to complete the review of applications for the members of this particular lawsuit, within 30 days. Then Secretary of Homeland Security under President Trump, Chad Wolf, didn’t have the authority to enact a yearlong wait for work permit processing, per the lawsuit. DHS filed a motion in August 2022 to stay the case until other cases also challenging the same 2020 rule were resolved.

The U.S. government claims by the end of September 2022, most of the backlog of applications for this particular lawsuit will be processed.

If you have questions about your work authorization or any other immigration-related issue, contact us at ILBSG. Our team of experienced attorneys works closely with clients to ensure they get the right advice for their particular situations.

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