New Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Rule Threatening Immigrants’ Ability to Keep Work Authorization
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Public Citizen Litigation Group and Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) filed a new lawsuit on behalf of an immigrant worker challenging the Trump administration’s rule abruptly ending automatic extensions of work permits.
Like many immigrants with legal status, the plaintiff in this case — who is bringing the case as a Jane Doe — relies on work authorization from the federal government to work and provide for her family. A citizen of Mexico who has lived in the United States for nearly ten years, she is the sole provider for her eight-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen.
Because of longstanding and ongoing processing delays, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has for many years provided automatic extensions of work permits when the agency fails to process the renewal application before the individual’s existing permit expires. USCIS has previously acknowledged that the automatic extensions are necessary to prevent hundreds of thousands of lawful workers from experiencing a lapse in work authorization through no fault of their own but rather due to the agency’s own backlogs.
In October 2025, the Trump administration abruptly reversed course and ended these extensions. The administration skipped required procedures for public input and failed to consider the negative effects of the policy.
The plaintiff in the case applied in November to renew her current work permit, which expires at the end of June 2026. Because of the Trump administration’s rule, she is at substantial risk of losing her authorization to work — leaving her unable to work, pay her bills, or provide for her daughter.
“For decades, federal immigration officials have understood that immigrant workers should not be forced out of the workforce solely because the government failed to process their work permit applications quickly enough,” said Stephanie Garlock, attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group. “With this new regulation, the Trump administration unlawfully eliminated necessary safeguards protecting immigrant workers like our client, without any input from directly impacted immigrants, employers, communities, and others who will be harmed as a result.”
“Our client is one of many immigrant workers living in fear of losing their job because of the government’s decision to eliminate work permit extensions,” said Juan Bedoya, Litigation Staff Attorney at the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP). “Immigrants working legally and contributing to their local U.S. communities are now feeling the consequences of the government’s rash and illegal move to eliminate work permit extensions.”
“I could soon lose my jobs because the government abruptly ended automatic work permit extensions, which I have relied on in the past to keep working,” said the plaintiff in the new lawsuit. “I am filing this lawsuit to challenge this unlawful policy and to hopefully restore the automatic work permit extension for all of us who need it to lawfully support ourselves and our families.”
For more information, read the full complaint here.