![\"Jean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779363371_467_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Jean Yameogo says pro-government groups set his car on fire after he criticized the government of Burkina Faso.<\/p>\n
Now, Yameogo and his family are living in Cicero while he waits for the United States government to decide his asylum case. Asylum applicants normally can apply for a temporary work permit and get one after about six months while their case makes its way through the courts. But Yameogo has been unable to get a work permit.<\/p>\n
He has applied for work authorization multiple times, but his applications have been denied. Shelly Schulze, a spokesperson for Refugee One, a not-for-profit agency helping him with his case, says it\u2019s not certain why his applications were denied but that the problem seems to have started with a missed appointment with immigration officials. Yameogo didn\u2019t get the notice because his family had moved. <\/p>\n
Not having an updated address appears to have become a months-long barrier in a backlogged system that can be tough to navigate without legal help.<\/p>\n
Without a work permit, Yameogo says he\u2019s struggled to provide for his family financially.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not alone. Advocates for immigrants say Trump administration policies targeting work authorization are pushing immigrants out of the legal workforce. These include pauses on work-permit applications from 39 countries deemed \u201chigh risk,\u201d the end of automatic work-permit extensions, slower processing times for permit applications and a proposed rule that would make it harder for asylum-seekers to get work permits.<\/p>\n
This is part of a broader effort, advocates say, to narrow legal pathways for immigrants and pressure them to voluntarily self-deport. <\/p>\n
The effects, some economists say, could go beyond immigrant workers and their families, rippling through businesses, employers and local government when workers lose income or are pushed into off-the-books jobs.<\/p>\n
Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, says some immigrants are struggling to get permission to work in the first place, and others risk losing that permission while renewing work permits they already had.<\/p>\n
\u201cImmigrant workers with legal immigration status are falling out of the authorized workforce,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
No more automatic renewals<\/p>\n
In October, a rule<\/a> took effect that removed a safeguard that had allowed eligible workers to stay on the job while U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processed their work-permit renewal.<\/p>\n Before, many workers who applied to renew on time could keep working for up to 540 days while the federal agency processed the new card. Now, Cruz says, many no longer get that extension. If their old permit expires before the new one arrives, workers might have to stop working even if they filed on time.<\/p>\n A USCIS spokesperson says the agency is putting a new emphasis on \u201crobust alien screening and vetting\u201d before extending work authorization.<\/p>\n The October rule applies to applicants across multiple immigration categories, including some asylum applicants and people with Temporary Protected Status. It does not apply to lawful permanent residents, who can work with a green card.<\/p>\n