The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (quite a mouthful) released information pertaining to recent Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) renewals. This information is designed to protect employees as well as to encourage employers to follow the law.
Every TPS renewal period, our office is overwhelmed with calls from people who are threatened with termination if their work permits are not extended before their expiration. For those with TPS and DED, this is generally a prohibited act by the employer as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) usually automatically extends work authorizations for periods of 6 months. The excerpt and full document appear below.
If a current or new employee presents an EAD that has been automatically extended, an employer may not ask for additional documentation to prove work authorization, country of origin, or registration for program extensions.
➢ Requesting more or different documents than are required by the I-9 process may violate the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
