DHS Ends Automatic EAD Renewals; Advocates Warn of Broader Deportations

(UNITED STATES) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on October 30, 2025 ended the automatic extension of Employment Authorization Documents for most people renewing their work permits, a sudden change that takes effect immediately and forces many applicants to stop working the moment their current cards expire. The interim final rule, published the same day in the Federal Register, applies to anyone filing for an EAD renewal on or after October 30, 2025. Under the policy, they cannot return to work until a new EAD is approved and in hand, removing the automatic extension that had allowed continued employment while renewals were pending.

Homeland Security framed the move as a shift back to pre-approval vetting before extending work authorization, while immigration lawyers, employers, and labor advocates warned it could sideline thousands of workers for months because of government processing delays. The rule reaches deeply into the labor market and immigrant communities by canceling a safety valve that had given workers stability between EAD cards. For people whose EADs are their only proof of permission to work, the decision effectively adds a hard stop to employment at card expiration, regardless of whether they filed on time.

The policy change is sweeping in scope. It covers most EAD categories, including adjustment of status applicants seeking green cards, H-4 spouses with work authorization, refugees and asylees, Violence Against Women Act self-petitioners, and many Temporary Protected Status applicants. While the rule ends the automatic extension for most renewal applicants, certain groups are not affected. Individuals who filed their EAD renewal applications before October 30, 2025 keep the benefit of the automatic extension that was in place when they applied. The rule also does not touch STEM OPT students on F-1 status or nonimmigrant visa holders whose permission to work is tied to their underlying status, including H-1B, L-1, O-1, and P-1 workers. In addition, automatic extensions remain for TPS recipients and other categories that are protected by statute or a separate Federal Register notice.

The immediate consequence is straightforward and stark: anyone who files a renewal on or after October 30, 2025 and whose current EAD expires before the new card is approved must stop working and remain off payroll until approval. That end of the automatic extension lands at a time when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processing times for EAD renewals often stretch beyond six months, a lag that immigration attorneys say has already left workers coping with gaps in income and employers juggling staffing. Without the bridge that automatic extension provided, those gaps harden into layoffs or forced leaves even when applicants acted on time and remain eligible to work once their renewals are approved.

DHS said the new approach is grounded in screening and public safety. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said the agency is making vetting the priority in decisions about employment authorization, presenting the rollback as a return to more rigorous checks before granting continued permission to work.

“USCIS is placing a renewed emphasis on robust alien screening and vetting, eliminating policies the former administration implemented that prioritized aliens’ convenience ahead of Americans’ safety and security,”

Edlow added, aligning the change with the administration’s broader enforcement stance.

Labor advocates and immigration attorneys counter that the rule will chill lawful employment and push workers into the shadows. They argue that affected individuals—who have previously been vetted and granted work authorization—will be forced to leave jobs abruptly and, in many cases, will face weeks or months without pay while USCIS processes their renewals. That lost income, they say, will ripple through households that rely on steady work to cover rent, child care, and medical bills. They also warn that people unable to wait out processing delays may be driven into informal or unsafe work arrangements, exposing them to wage theft and trafficking risks that legal employment is supposed to prevent.

The most forceful criticism links the EAD shift to broader deportation pressure, framing it as part of a strategy to make daily life so precarious that people leave the country on their own. Victor Narro, project director at the UCLA Labor Center, said the rule fits a pattern meant to limit immigrants’ ability to remain in the United States through economic pressure and uncertainty.

“This is another tool in the process of the Trump administration’s effort to get people to self-deport,”

Narro said, arguing that the loss of automatic extension removes a practical lifeline for many long-term workers and their families.

Employer groups say the consequences will reach well beyond individual workers. They note that entire sectors—healthcare support, logistics, hospitality, and back-office operations—rely on EAD holders, including refugees, asylees, and spouses of skilled workers. With renewals pending for months, employers now face a new cliff-edge at card expiration, forcing them to pull workers from schedules, reassign tasks, or halt projects, even when those employees are expected to regain authorization once the new EADs are approved. Some businesses will try to plan around expiration dates, attorneys say, but a one-size rule that stops work authorization at the end of a plastic card leaves little room to bridge the gap without losing staff.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association’s president, Jeff Joseph, condemned the move as a blow to both workers and the U.S. economy.

“Without any notice, the Trump Administration is yet again pulling the rug out from under U.S. employers and workers. The administration is eliminating a longstanding rule that allowed previously vetted individuals who were granted work authorization to continue working while their timely filed renewal application was pending with USCIS. For nearly a decade, the agency automatically extended work permits for 180 days, which was later increased to 540 days, to provide relief from massive backlogs and delays in government processing. Now, the Trump Administration wants to eliminate this failsafe which protected employers and workers from government inefficiencies. This action fast tracks pink slips as employers will have no choice but to fire needed workers. The Trump Administration is again failing to support American businesses and in fact, outright harming our nation’s economic stability,”

Joseph said, adding that the change strips out a practical fix that had kept payrolls steady during long processing waits.

The rule’s few carve-outs create a patchwork that could complicate compliance and employment planning. People who filed before October 30, 2025 keep the automatic extension tied to their renewal applications, which means two workers in the same office could face different outcomes depending on when they mailed their paperwork. TPS recipients, who are authorized to work by statute or through separate Federal Register notices, retain automatic extensions under those authorities. Meanwhile, workers on certain visas do not rely on EAD cards at all; their permission to work stems from their nonimmigrant status, placing them outside the scope of the new rule. For those caught inside it—adjustment applicants, H-4 spouses, many humanitarian categories—the cutoff is unforgiving.

Attorneys advising employers say early planning is essential but admit there is only so much companies can do. Human resources teams will likely review upcoming EAD expiration dates and try to schedule renewals well in advance. Immigrants seeking to maintain continuous authorization are being urged to file their renewal applications as early as the rules allow, up to 180 days before their current EADs expire, in the hope that USCIS will approve new cards in time. But because the rule removes any automatic extension for those who file on or after the effective date, the filing window becomes a race against processing times that applicants cannot control.

Workers and advocates also question whether the rule will intensify labor exploitation. Without the legal right to remain on payroll while a renewal is pending, people may feel pressure to accept off-the-books work, defer reporting unpaid wages, or endure unsafe conditions, advocates say. Those risks are acute for refugees and asylees, who face unique barriers to reentering the formal workplace after any interruption. The fear is that removing the automatic extension will not reduce unauthorized work, but will push it underground, undercutting the oversight and wage protections tied to formal employment.

The Department of Homeland Security maintains that the change is necessary to ensure “proper screening and vetting” before extending work authorization, echoing an enforcement-first approach to immigration policy. Supporters of tighter screening argue that automatic extensions grant continued employment without an updated review, while opponents argue that the people affected have already passed background checks and are seeking renewals based on the same eligibility. The sharp divide reflects a broader debate about whether the balance between security and continuity of work has tipped too far toward disruption in everyday life.

For now, the agency is moving ahead through an interim final rule, which takes effect immediately while allowing the public to submit feedback. The comment period runs through December 1, 2025, with instructions available in the Federal Register notice. Stakeholders including employers, labor unions, legal aid groups, and affected workers can file comments that address operational challenges, economic costs, and the practical effects on families and communities, though the rule remains in force as DHS considers that input.

The end of the automatic extension also raises payroll and compliance challenges that can play out quickly. Employers are advised to review their rosters and seek legal counsel where needed to understand who must be removed from schedules when an EAD expires, who might keep working under a prior filing, and who is exempt because their authorization is tied to a visa status. With processing times often exceeding six months, and with no automatic extension backstop for most categories, planning around expiration dates becomes a high-stakes exercise for managers responsible for staffing and for workers who depend on steady income.

Advocates say the rule’s arrival without a lead time magnifies its impact. People who were counting on an automatic extension will have to adjust immediately if they filed on or after October 30, 2025, often without savings to cover a gap in pay. Community organizations and legal clinics expect a spike in calls from families trying to figure out how to handle rent, school costs, and medical needs if a parent or spouse must step away from a job while waiting for a new card. For households where the EAD holder is the main earner, even a few weeks off payroll can trigger cascading problems.

Homeland Security’s critics also question whether the agency has the capacity to process the surge of renewal filings likely to arrive as people try to submit applications 180 days ahead. If processing does not speed up, they argue, the rule functions as a brake on lawful employment rather than a security measure, not because applicants are ineligible but because the system cannot keep pace. The long-running tension between workloads and staffing at USCIS sits in the background of this change, but for workers and employers the practical question is immediate: can a new card arrive before the old one expires?

The government’s approach still leaves a measure of continuity for those who filed renewals before October 30, 2025 and for TPS recipients and other categories protected by separate authority. But most renewal applicants who fall under the new rule will be confronting an employment cliff that did not exist the day before the change. Removing the automatic extension alters not just paperwork, but planning for careers, budgets, and business operations across the economy.

As the public comment clock counts down to December 1, 2025, both sides are bracing for the real-world consequences. Homeland Security points to vetting and security, arguing that employment authorization should not roll forward without a fresh approval. Labor advocates, immigration lawyers, and many employers describe a policy that interrupts legal work, invites exploitation, and undermines stability. The gap between those positions is wide, and the stakes are immediate for people whose livelihoods depend on the small plastic cards the rule now places at the center of their ability to work.