Immigrant and business advocates in Maine say new restrictions on work permits for asylum seekers proposed by the Trump administration would damage the state’s economy and communities.

The administration published a proposed rule Monday that would halt work permits from being issued until U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services eliminates a backlog of over 1.4 million asylum applications.

Addressing the backlog “may take between 14 and 173 years,” according to the rule.

“This will be awful for all industries and communities,” said Mufalo Chitam, executive director of Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition. “These are really essential workers filling positions in medical, long-term care, manufacturing, hospitality and food production. Our state cannot afford to not have these workers.”

How many asylum seekers are living and working in Maine is unclear.

Mainers got a sense of what it would be like to lose its immigrant workforce during the recent surge by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Chitam said. Many immigrants stayed home from work and school during those weeks.

“Do we really want what we experienced during the surge to become the norm, when people and businesses cannot function?” Chitam asked. “We cannot afford to not speak up as a state. Businesses must speak up and provide testimony against this rule.”

The proposed rule is subject to a 60-day comment period during which the public can file written testimony for or against the changes. It must be converted into a final rule before it can take effect.

Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, said asylum seekers who are authorized to work should be retained as a valuable asset in a tight labor market.

“Maine continues to face a tight labor market and limited projected job growth, so maintaining our authorized workforce is an important part of our comprehensive labor strategy,” Woodcock said in an emailed statement. “While reviews of work reauthorizations for valid national security reasons are certainly warranted, we strongly support a clear, timely, and ultimately fair review of the majority of the workers who are contributing to our workforce and have a legal status in our country.”

The chamber is projecting 0.1% growth in Maine’s labor force this year, followed by no growth through 2029, Woodcock said.

EXTENDED WAITING PERIODS

For decades, U.S. immigration law has allowed work permits to be granted topeople who have applied for asylum if their cases have been pending for at least 180 days.

The proposed rule would increase that wait period to a year. USCIS also would not be allowed to accept applications for work permits until it was able to approve or deny all applications for asylum in an average of 180 days.

In 2024, when USCIS had a backlog of over 1 million asylum cases, more than 786,000 had been pending over 180 days (77%) and more than 388,000 had been pending over 2 years (38 %), according to a government review.

USCIS has drastically tightened immigration programs under the Trump administration. Last December, after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., the agency paused its review of all asylum cases and reduced the valid period for work permits from five years to just 18 months.

The impact of the proposed rule on asylum seekers who already have work permits is unclear. It states that the Department of Homeland Security “proposes to clarify and consolidate the requirements for requesting a (permit) renewal and specify that aliens applying for renewal must also submit biometrics,” such as fingerprints, signatures and photos of their faces.

The rule also would disqualify migrants who entered the U.S. illegally from work permit eligibility, unless they told immigration officials within 48 hours of entering the country that they were fleeing persecution.

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, called the proposed changes cruel and said she is working with colleagues to explore ways to block the rule, potentially through legislation.

“It will have devastating consequences for thousands of Mainers and millions of people across the country,” she said. “This isn’t about ‘restoring integrity’ to our asylum system. It’s about punishing asylum seekers, making it impossible to build lives and families here, and creating the conditions to detain and deport as many people as possible.”

Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King is reviewing the proposal and its potential impacts on Mainers before determining “how best to protect lawful employment and the state’s economy,” a spokesperson said.

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is evaluating how the rule would impact “the many law-abiding Maine businesses that rely on some asylum seekers to fill critical workspace gaps,” a spokesperson said. They also said the senator believes people who enter the country legally and claim asylum ought to be able to obtain work permits while waiting for their cases to proceed.

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, didn’t respond Wednesday to requests for comment.

VIEWS ON ASYLUM CLASH

The asylum process is designed to provide a permanent safe haven to migrants who are fleeing persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, political views or membership in a particular social group.

The proposed rule states that it aims to reduce the practice of using the asylum system to work and live in the U.S. while petitions are reviewed and in many cases denied, according to the DHS.

“For too long, a fraudulent asylum claim has been an easy path to working in the United States, overwhelming our immigration system with meritless applications,” the department said in a statement.

Immigrant advocates across the U.S. strongly denounced the proposed rule, saying it would prevent asylum seekers from financially supporting themselves and their families and hurt the U.S. economy.

“This regulation would be deeply damaging for U.S. employers and the broader economy,” said Cristina Moreno, policy counsel for WorkPermits.US, via email. “Businesses across the country rely on asylum seekers who are living and working here legally. Forcing them out of the workforce would disrupt operations, worsen labor shortages, and increase costs for companies and consumers alike.”