Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, IMMIGRATION NEWS—California AG Bonta leads coalition in opposition of end of automatic extension of employment authorization, (Dec 4, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The AGs argue that DHS has not sufficiently considered the harmful effects of the interim final rule on EAD holders nor the full impacts on states’ residents.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta co-led a coalition of 18 attorneys general in opposing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) interim final rule ending DHS’s automatic extension of employment authorization pending renewal of certain workers’ Employment Authorization Documents (EADs).

EAD renewal applications. In a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Director of USCIS Joseph Edlow, a coalition of 18 attorneys general, including Bonta, opposed a DHS interim final rule ending DHS’s policy of automatically extending employment authorization for up to 540 days for many categories of immigrants, such as those with pending asylum applications, who timely file EAD renewal applications. Under the interim final rule, the applicants will no longer receive an automatic extension while the renewal application is pending, and, when their EAD expires, will no longer be authorized to work until USCIS issues a new EAD. While immigrants may apply for renewal 180 days before the expiration date, USCIS faces significant backlogs in processing the applications.

The attorneys general argued that the interim final rule violates the APA, as it was improperly promulgated without notice and comment. The attorneys general further argued that the interim final rule is arbitrary and capricious, as DHS’s national security justifications are unreasonable and the interim final rule functions only to increase the number of individuals subject to removal.

Finally, the attorneys general argued that DHS has not sufficiently considered the harmful effects of the interim final rule on EAD holders nor the full impacts of the rule on states’ residents. The lapses in work authorization renewals “will inevitably lead to countless problems for the States’ residents caused by unnecessary and prolonged unemployment, which inevitably leads to general economic instability (insurance, housing, and food instability), strains on health (limited access to insurance, avoiding preventative care, worsening health), and forcing many into a ‘shadow’ economy of unauthorized workers,” the attorney generals wrote.

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