IMMpact Litigation, Apr. 25, 2024 "IMMpact Litigation, seeking redress for over 100,000 Ukrainian nationals paroled into the United States post-February 2022, today announces a significant advancement...
DOL, Apr. 26, 2024 "The Department of Labor today announced a final rule to strengthen protections for farmworkers . The rule targets vulnerability and abuses experienced by workers under the H...
NILA, Apr. 24, 2024 "The National Immigration Litigation Alliance (NILA) and Innovation Law Lab are thrilled to announce that, in response to the lawsuit we filed against the United States Citizenship...
NILA, Apr. 24, 2024 "Today, three immigration attorneys and two individuals filed a prospective class action lawsuit in federal court, challenging U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP...
USCIS, Apr. 23, 2024 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced the upcoming opening of international field offices in Doha, Qatar, and Ankara, Turkey, to increase capacity...
AIC, July 19, 2017 - "Today, U.S. District Court Judge James Robert granted a motion to certify a nationwide class in Northwest Immigrant Rights Project v. USCIS, recognizing that USCIS must adjudicate asylum seekers’ employment authorization applications within 30 days if they are submitted in a timely manner. The agency has regularly failed to adhere to this deadline, often delaying applications for months at a time. This delay can cause severe hardship for asylum seekers, many of whom are left in precarious situations with no ability to legally work while their applications are pending.
In light of regulatory changes made after the lawsuit was filed, the Court dismissed the claims of a second proposed subclass of individuals who, under the previous regulations, were entitled to receive interim work permits if the government failed to adjudicate their applications for employment authorization within 90 days of timely submission. The new regulations, issued in the final days of the Obama administration, assisted certain 90-day plaintiffs by expanding the duration of their work permits to two years, allowing them to apply 180 days in advance for renewals, and – in some cases – permitting an automatic extension of work authorization.
“The Court’s order today underscores that USCIS must follow its own regulations,” noted Christopher Strawn, Director of the Asylum Unit at the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. “The 30-day deadline to decide these work authorization applications is a requirement, not a suggestion.”
“This decision has the potential to help thousands of vulnerable asylum seekers, who desperately need to work while their applications are pending,” said Melissa Crow, Legal Director of the American Immigration Council. “However, we remain concerned about other categories of noncitizens whose applications for employment authorization are no longer subject to a specific timetable for adjudication.“
The plaintiffs in this case are represented by the American Immigration Council, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Gibbs Houston Pauw, Sunbird Law, PLLC, Scott D. Pollock & Associates, PC, and Van der Hout, Brigigliano & Nightingale, LLP.