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A new rule proposed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would effectively eliminate the ability of most asylum seekers to obtain legal work permits, according to a report released Wednesday by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). The proposal, introduced in February 2026, ties work authorization eligibility to a strict 180-day asylum application processing benchmark. This is a threshold that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has historically been unable to meet and is unlikely to achieve for years under current resource constraints.
The TRAC report states that if the rule is implemented, it would prevent asylum applicants from lawfully working while their applications are pending, severely limiting their ability to support themselves. Under the new framework, applicants are barred from even applying for employment authorization unless the average processing time for affirmative asylum applications is 180 days or less.
This determination would be made by the USCIS Director based on the 90-day period preceding the decision. However, current data shows the average processing time reached 22.8 months in fiscal year 2024, far exceeding the proposed limit.
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