‘Even Marco Rubio is…’: Any arrest could lead to US work permit denial under new proposal; immigration lawyers urge caution
Immigration lawyers are urging caution about a new proposal that would be extremely challenging for immigrant workers in the United States because new rules say any arrest will result in the denial of employment authorization documents. The arrest may be a traffic arrest or a false arrest without a conviction, but this will be considered grounds for denial of a work permit. This applies to OPT, STEM OPT, H4 visa holders, not H-1B visa holders because H-1B visa holders do not work on an EAD.Immigration attorney Emily Neumann said there is still time to comment on the proposed regulations. “Even if you are arrested for something, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a major incident; that could be a reason for an EAD to be denied. There are a lot of people who have been arrested in their backgrounds but have not been found guilty of a crime they did not commit,” Neumann said, adding that Aug. 4 is the last date to comment on the proposed rule.Immigration lawyer Rahul Reddy noted that 18-year-old Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also arrested for drinking beer in a park after it closed. Years later, when the issue cropped up when he was running for office, Rubio’s campaign said he was no longer in custody and had never hired an attorney.But such an arrest will cause the visa holder’s EAD to be cancelled.
What does the new proposal say?
The proposal states: The Department of Homeland Security proposes to limit and clarify the eligibility for discretionary employment authorization for aliens who are temporarily paroled into the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public interests, who have been granted deferred action, or who have a final order of removal, and who are temporarily released under a supervision order. DHS also proposed to clarify that aliens applying for employment authorization who plead guilty to, were arrested for, or were convicted of certain crimes should not receive favorable discretion unless a substantial countervailing public interest exists, which may include assisting U.S. law enforcement activities.
