Dec. 9—Members of Maine’s congressional delegation and Gov. Janet Mills are asking the Biden administration to permanently increase the amount of time work permits can be automatically extended for immigrants and asylum seekers.
The push comes as U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to work through an extensive backlog in work permit applications that puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk of losing their ability to support themselves while waiting for their cases to be processed, according to Rep. Chellie Pingree, Sen. Angus King and Mills.
The three asked in a letter to federal officials Friday that they make permanent a temporary rule that allows for automatic extensions of up to 540 days. The rule was first put in place in May 2022 to address processing delays and the 540-day policy was extended in April.
“This temporary rule has been critically important to ensure that immigrants and asylum seekers do not have their employment lapse through no fault of their own while USCIS works through the current backlog of (work permit) applications,” the letter said.
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Maine is home to about 56,419 foreign-born residents, of which 24,534 are noncitizens, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.
Members of the congressional delegation and the governor have in recent years emphasized the need to reform the work permit process in response to an influx of asylum seekers who have often relied on the state and local communities for help with housing and basic needs while they are unable to legally work.
Current regulations require asylum seekers to wait 150 days after filing an asylum application before applying for work authorization, which can be granted no sooner than 180 days after filing the asylum claim, though the process can often take much longer. Work permits need to be renewed every five years.
The temporary rule for extended automatic renewals is set to expire in September, at which point the automatic renewal period would revert to 180 days.
Pingree and Mills, who are Democrats, and King, an independent, said in their letter that their request comes amid a backlog in work permit processing and that extending the automatic renewal period is critical to providing stability for workers, employees and their families.
USCIS said in February that it was able to reduce its overall backlog for processing a variety of immigration benefits and requests for the first time in over a decade in fiscal year 2023, including reducing processing times for its most commonly filed forms, including the application for work authorization.
Still, as of this fall, 900,000 people were waiting for their initial work permit application to be processed, while an additional 500,000 are seeking renewals, Pingree, King and Mills said.
“While we appreciate the efforts USCIS has made to resolve this issue, such as using supplemental funding appropriated by Congress to alleviate staffing shortages and investing in improved technology, more relief is needed,” they wrote.
A spokesperson for Pingree said in an email Monday that the rule is not something the three expect the incoming Trump administration to support, which makes it more critical to act quickly.
“Codifying the rule would provide a stronger safeguard against reversal, ensuring long-term stability,” said Pingree spokesperson Gabrielle Mannino.
In response to questions about whether the letter had been received and if the change will be considered, a media contact for USCIS said in an email that the agency responds to congressional correspondence directly via official channels and “will continue to respond appropriately to Congressional oversight.”
The request comes after President-elect Trump campaigned on a promise to carry out mass deportations and crack down on illegal immigration.
“President Trump will enlist every federal power and coordinate with state authorities to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering costs for families and strengthening our workforce,” Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a written statement Monday.
Leavitt did not respond to a question about whether the incoming administration would oppose extending the work permit renewal period.
Immigrants seeking asylum are allowed to remain in the country while pursuing their cases for permanent residency, although some advocates expect Trump to tighten restrictions.
The push for extended work permits is the latest effort by the delegation to try and improve the process for immigrants and asylum seekers. Pingree is the sponsor of the Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act, which would reduce the 180-day waiting period for work authorization eligibility to 30 days and eliminate the two-year renewal schedule.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins has also introduced legislation, co-sponsored by King, to shorten the waiting period before asylum seekers are allowed to receive work authorizations.
Neither Collins nor Democrat Rep. Jared Golden, the other two members of Maine’s congressional delegation, signed on to the letter sent by King, Mills and Pingree.
A spokesperson for Collins said in a statement Monday that automatic, lengthy extensions mask the underlying problem of asylum adjudications taking far too long — more than five years in many cases.
As vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins worked to include $34 million in the 2024 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill to help address the work authorization backlog at USCIS, said Phoebe Ferraiolo.
“These additional resources are having the intended effect, with the backlog already being reduced by more than 25% and the time to process applications falling by more than 30%,” Ferraiolo said.
Media contacts for Golden did not respond to emails or a phone message Monday asking why he didn’t sign on to the letter and if he supports extending the 540-day period.
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