Press Release  AG Campbell Co-Leads Multistate Coalition Urging Homeland Security To Take Additional Action To Expedite Work Permits For Recently Arrived Immigrants

Boston — Today, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, joined by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and New York Attorney General Letitia James, has co-led a coalition of 19 state attorneys general in sending a letter to the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In the letter, the coalition applauds recent DHS action to expedite work authorization permits for lawfully paroled immigrants and asylum seekers while strongly urging DHS to take additional steps that would help address the continued burden on new arrivals who want nothing more than to work and support themselves and their families.  

DHS announced the recent changes to reduce work authorization processing delays after a multistate call to action led by AG Campbell this past August. The recently announced changes include decreasing the average work authorization processing time for certain parolees to 30 days; increasing the time period during which a work authorization is valid to up to five years for asylum seekers and refugees; ensuring that the parole period for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan parolees is generally two years; and notifying certain parolees of their eligibility to apply for work authorization. 

Today’s letter applauds these changes while emphasizing that additional DHS action must be taken to expedite access to work authorization for recently arrived immigrants in Massachusetts and across the United States. The AGs contend that these changes are necessary to ensure that new arrivals can obtain employment in the United States and provide for themselves and their families. Lengthy processing delays and other barriers to work authorization continue to place an increased strain on families and on government and nonprofit resources, including housing and food programs, which have been bearing the burden of providing crucial support to new arrivals nationwide.  

“While we are grateful for DHS’s recently announced changes to expedite and expand access to work authorization for recently arrived immigrants, new arrivals in Massachusetts and across the country continue to experience delays in being granted work permits to support themselves and their families. Our state and our social services continue to bear excessive and avoidable burdens as a result,” said AG Campbell. “It is crucial that DHS promptly take additional steps to bring much-needed relief to families, shelters, and social service programs here in the Commonwealth and throughout the country.” 

Specifically, the coalition of attorneys general are urging the DHS to take the following immediate additional actions to address the continued burdens:  

• Grant provisional work authorization upon application for a work permit  
  • Many parolees and asylum seekers continue to wait for work permits that will ultimately be granted but, in the meanwhile, are unable to lawfully obtain employment. The letter urges DHS to fix such needless delays by granting provisional work authorizations while applications are pending and enable parolees and asylum seekers to support themselves and their families.  
• Eliminate fees 
  • Parolees face hefty fees when applying for a work authorization unless they can provide significant documentation to obtain a fee waiver. The letter requests DHS eliminate such fees for parolees applying for work authorization applications, or at the very least, provide access to fee waivers for online applications, as online applications are currently unavailable for those seeking a fee waiver.  
• Renew paroles for those whose parole status expired while their work authorizations applications were pending 
  • Until recently, parole has been granted for inconsistent periods of time and often only for a very short period. This has resulted in many work authorization applicants becoming ineligible for work authorization because their parole has expired. Many of these same applicants are eligible to get work authorization through asylum applications, but they must wait six months to apply for work authorization under the asylum rules. The letter requests DHS automatically renew paroles for those whose parole expired while they were waiting for work permits.  
• Streamline application processes to relieve burdens on migrants and DHS 
  • The letter offers a number of suggestions to DHS to streamline their application processes for both paroles and work permits, such as by allowing individuals to apply for work authorization at the same they request parole and providing in-person processing and approval of work authorizations in cities and states with large numbers of recent parolees, amongst other recommendations. 

Today’s letter is only AG Campbell’s most recent action to support and advocate for newly arrived immigrants.  In addition to AG Campbell’s leading of the August call to action to DHS, just last month, AG Campbell distributed nearly $1 million in grant funding to 13 legal services organizations, across all Massachusetts counties, that provide immigrant legal services to bolster their assistance to migrant communities, including help completing work authorization permits and other crucial needs. Earlier this month, AG Campbell sued the Neo-Nazi group NSC-131 for, in part, targeting newly arrived migrants at hotels providing them with shelter. 

In sending today’s letter, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and New York Attorney General Letitia James were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.  

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