5. Department of Homeland Security · Notable
Limit work authorization classes by regulation
Printed page 151 5. Department of Homeland Security
“Employment authorization. Along with the legislative proposal, take regulatory action to limit the classes of aliens eligible for work authorization.”
What has happened
- Partially done
Second rulemaking, and the one that matches the Quote most directly: DHS proposed to "limit and clarify eligibility for discretionary employment authorization" for parolees, people granted deferred action and people released under orders of supervision, and to make criminal history a discretionary bar. Three classes named in 8 CFR 274a.12(c) would lose presumptive eligibility. Still a proposal (comments closed 2026-08-04), which is why this is `partial` and not `done`. The related interim final rule of 2025-10-30 ended automatic EAD extensions but did not change which classes are eligible.
- Partially done
First of the two rulemakings that actually narrow a class: DHS proposed pausing acceptance of employment-authorization applications from asylum applicants whenever affirmative asylum processing exceeds 180 days, extending the waiting period from 180 to 365 days, and adding eligibility requirements. Proposed, not final (comments closed 2026-04-24).
- Attempted
EO 14159 section 16(c) directs the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure "that employment authorization is provided in a manner consistent with section 274A of the INA" and that it "is not provided to any unauthorized alien in the United States". That is the directive the Quote's regulatory action would implement; on its own it changed no eligibility class.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
The Quote asks for regulatory action limiting which classes of aliens may work, alongside a legislative proposal. Two notices of proposed rulemaking do exactly that; neither is final.
Overlap: #327 (p. 145) counts the same two proposals as two of the five rulemakings it asks DHS to submit, and #328 (p. 145) uses the 2025-10-30 interim final rule for EAD validity. This item is scored on the narrower question — has a class been taken out of eligibility — and the answer is “proposed, not yet”.
The legislative half of the Quote is #360 (p. 149), which is not started.
- Action
- restrict
- Object
- classes of aliens eligible for work authorization
- ID
- 366