U.S. Workers Sue USCIS for Unlawful Delays in Renewal of Employment Authorizations

Five workers filed a nationwide class action lawsuit today challenging extreme delays at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that have resulted in the failure to process the work authorization renewals for asylum seekers.

Plaintiffs include a medical doctor treating underserved rural populations, a long-haul truck driver, a food services manager, a technology worker, and a behavioral health care worker for special needs children. Each plaintiff is currently seeking asylum.. Despite nationwide shortages in each of these industries, the plaintiffs have lost or will lose their jobs because USCIS has delayed renewing their work authorization—sometimes taking ten months or more to approve. 

The lawsuit, filed in the federal district court in the Northern District of California by the American Immigration Council, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), and Lakin & Wille LLP, seeks to force USCIS to address delays and timely adjudicate employment authorization renewal applications for asylum seekers.

A copy of the complaint is here.

KJ