Without automatic work authorization renewals, immigrant children could lose their only ID

It’s been more than a week since U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services stopped allowing immigrants to automatically renew their work authorization, a change that could leave thousands in Arizona without the documents they need to work.

Experts say the change will also impact immigrant children who are in the U.S. seeking asylum.

Immigrants with temporary work permission were able to automatically renew because of processing backlogs at USCIS that threatened to force tens of thousands out of a job without their paperwork. But last month, the Trump administration said it was ending that permission to deter fraud.

Jennifer Podkul, chief of global policy and advocacy at Kids in Need of Defense, or KIND, says unaccompanied immigrant children may use that authorization as their main form of ID.

“Things that you and I might use our driver’s license for, these kids are relying on their work permit, because it is the only government issued ID that they might have from the U.S. government,” she said.

In addition to losing out on employment with workplace protections, Podkul says, without a valid U.S. ID, children may be barred from getting on a bus or applying for financial aid for school.

“It’s so crucial they have that, so they can access day-to-day things like being able to travel or being able to even go into certain buildings,” she said.

Federal funding cuts from the beginning of the year have also meant unaccompanied immigrant children — minors who came across the U.S.-Mexico border alone — are now facing removal proceedings in immigration court without attorneys more often.