AsylumWorks v. Wolf

  • AsylumWorks v. Wolf

    Case Status:
    Closed
    Court and Case No.:

    U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 1:20-cv-03815

What is the government doing and why are we challenging it? 

In June 2020, the Trump administration promulgated new rules that drastically curtailed access to work authorization for people who flee to the United States and apply for asylum protection. Employment authorization documents (EADs) are integral to asylum seekers’ ability to sustain themselves and their families pending the adjudication of their cases, which can take years as a result of current backlogs in the immigration courts. In many states, work permits are the only identification documentation asylum seekers can receive until they are granted protection.

These new rules removed the prior 30-day deadline for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to adjudicate initial EAD applications and erected significant new barriers to obtaining employment authorization, including new outright bars on eligibility.

Advocates previously challenged these rules in the District Court of Maryland in Casa de Maryland v. Wolf, Case No. 8:20-cv-02118 (D.D.C.), obtaining a preliminary injunction which prevented USCIS from applying a subset of the new EAD rules’ provisions to members of Casa de Maryland, Inc. (CASA) and Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP). Our built upon that case and sought to prevent the application of any part of the new EAD rules to any asylum seeker.

What is at stake? 

Work authorization is necessary for the health, safety, and well-being of all asylum seekers in the United States, since individuals who cannot legally work cannot support themselves and their families, let alone obtain and assist with their legal representation. The individual plaintiffs in AsylumWorks v. Wolf are asylum seekers, including transgender women and parents with small children, who were prevented under the new rules from receiving EADs. The organizational plaintiffs in this case—AsylumWorks, Tahirih Justice Center, and Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto—are groups that were impeded from providing employment assistance and legal and social services to asylum seekers as a result of the new rules.

What’s the status of this case? 

On February 7, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted our motion for summary judgment. The judge ruled that that the new EAD rules were illegally issued, because Chad Wolf was not lawfully serving as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security. The government did not appeal this ruling and the new rules were struck from the Federal Register on September 22, 2022.

Who’s involved? 

The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies is counsel along with the National Immigrant Justice Center, Kids in Need of Defense, Tahirih Justice Center, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP.

How can you help? 

Take the #WelcomeWithDignity pledge and join our movement to defend the right to seek asylum. You can support CGRS’s vital work on cases like this one by making a donation.

Need more information? 

Contact Brianna Krong, Communications and Advocacy Manager, at krongbrianna@uclawsf.edu.

Resources for Advocates 

CGRS has produced several resources to support attorneys representing clients impacted by the new EAD rules. Click here to request materials relevant to your client’s case.

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