Rishi P. Oza, Esq.
Effective October 30, 2025, the US Department of Homeland Security is eliminating the practice of automatically extending the validity of Employment Authorization Documents (“EADs”) for individuals seeking to apply to renew their work authorization for most employment-based EAD applicants.
According to USCIS, “[e]nding automatic extensions of EADs results in more frequent vetting of aliens who apply for employment authorization to work in the United States. Reviewing an alien’s background more often will enable U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to deter fraud and detect aliens with potentially harmful intent so they can be processed for removal from the United States.” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow indicated that doing so would eliminate “policies the former administration implemented that prioritized aliens’ convenience ahead of Americans’ safety and security” and that the new policy was “a commonsense measure.”
While many of the Trump Administration’s policies seem to be a response to the actions (or lack thereof) of the Biden Administration, the elimination of automatic EAD extensions is neither “commonsense” and does little to “deter fraud” despite the claims from USCIS. While this impact will undoubtedly hammer those individuals that rely on work authorization cards to maintain employment, this will also have an outsized effect on businesses that rely on laborers that are legally working in the United States. Had USCIS coupled this policy with a promise to adjudicate work permits within a 120-180-day time period, then the impact of the policy would be significantly lessened. However, Director Edlow instead prioritizes detecting “potentially harmful intent” over the day-to-day needs of businesses and workers, a stunning lack of forethought as to the real-world impact of such a policy. The Director would likely command more respect for his decision to emphasize security if he coupled his decision with a similar emphasis on efficiency, a concept that has bedeviled USCIS for years. Government inefficiency has existed since the beginning of time, but the fundamental ability to work in the US drives our economy and unnecessarily sidelining individuals that invariably fill needed jobs within our economy is mind boggling.
Inevitably, policy determinations such as this result in a change of behavior by the public at-large. This will invariably lead to an increase of EAD extension filings at the earliest possible time when such an application may be submitted. It will also likely lead to a spike in the need for expedite filings with USCIS. Any given application may be expedited by USCIS if an applicant can establish that he/she falls within one of the articulated grounds for such a request, including:
- Severe financial loss (likely the most common)
- USCIS error
- Emergent humanitarian circumstances
- Government interest
- Nonprofit organizations requesting assistance to further a cultural or social interest
Expedited filings typically require applicants to include extensive documentation highlighting the need for USCIS to prioritize their specific applications against those already pending. Expedites have always been a crapshoot, as the agency is required to compare one applicant’s severe financial loss against hundreds, if not thousands, of others. Whether or not USCIS will be able to handle the inevitable influx of such requests will be a test of the agency’s ability to deliver on its basic mission of administering immigration benefits to those that are qualified.
As an individual that has worked within the immigration field for nearly two decades, I cannot help but wonder if decisions such as this, when coupled with the overall legal climate towards immigrants, corrodes what I’ve always considered America’s superpower: its ability to attract immigrants from across the globe and meld them into a functional society that prizes diversity, risk-taking, ingenuity and drive. When speaking about my job with my family and friends, I’ve always argued that the field of immigration law will always be attractive as long as America was a destination for the world’s citizens to strive towards. The idea of America is what sets this nation apart from all others – the grand experiment in self-governance, the acceptance of the world’s huddled masses and the mixture and imperfections that make the United States such a unique player on the world stage. The memory of history is long and America has gone through similar phases of being an unwelcoming place. While recency bias may cloud my judgement, today we live in the information age, where the musings of a mercurial president are immediately available in every corner of the globe. As such, policy decisions telegraph to the world’s population as to what type of place America is and is becoming. When policy decisions such as the ending of automatic EAD extensions cloaked in “deter[ring] fraud”, but seem to be more about making the basic lives of immigrants harder, then we must question whether or not such decisions reflect the character of the country we want. Security and law enforcement are understandable pillars of a free and fair society, but they should not result in mean spiritedness and spitefulness. Fundamentally, the purpose of government is to make the lives of its citizens and residents easier and as nothing is more basic than being able to care for yourself and your family, it may make sense for the government to fulfill this promise, not make it harder.
This piece was originally posted in Saathee Magazine.
