Trump Team Wants to Make It Harder for Immigrants to Legally Work

Donald Trump’s administration is proposing sweeping new restrictions on work permits for certain immigrants in an attempt to discourage people from coming to the country, escalating the president’s threats to legal immigration.

The new proposal would restrict work permits to people granted humanitarian protections to legally stay in the U.S., including DACA recipients and people who don’t qualify for asylum but cannot be sent back to their home countries.

It would also effectively ban work authorization for anyone who has been arrested, even if they were never charged with a crime. Immigrants accused of being in a gang, which could rely on a broad range of criteria without a conviction, could also be denied work permits.

The proposal would also limit permits to just one year, with stricter conditions on renewal and possible automatic termination.

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All applicants would also be required to submit to biometrics screenings for identity verification and criminal background checks.

Applicants also would need to work for an employer that uses E-Verify, a voluntary government program that determines employees’ eligibility to work in the U.S. The White House is separately proposing that all federal grant recipients enroll in the program, the biggest effort to implement the program in decades.

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