Asylum Applicants Could See Work Permit Delays

The Department of Homeland Security is planning on eliminating the processing deadline for asylum applicants’ work permit applications, according to its spring regulatory agenda.

Under current regulations, the DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has 30 days after an asylum applicant’s work permit application is filed to make a decision. If the agency can’t make that deadline, it’s supposed to issue an interim work permit until a final decision is made.

The proposed rule, slated to be released in June, would allow the agency “to maintain customer service, respond to national security and fraud concerns, maintain technological advances in document ...