A federal judge in Boston has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from stripping work authorization from tens of thousands of asylum seekers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, pausing one of the most consequential employment-authorization changes of the past year.
U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton issued the order on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The suit was brought by a coalition of immigrant rights organizations and labor unions, represented by the legal group Democracy Forward. The plaintiffs argued that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rewrote long-standing employment authorization rules without the public notice-and-comment process required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
The order does two specific things. First, it bars USCIS from retroactively shortening Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) that the agency had already issued or extended — meaning workers whose permits were about to be cut short can continue relying on the validity period printed on the document they hold. Second, it prevents the agency from using nonpayment of the new annual asylum fee as grounds to reject a pending asylum application, terminate work authorization, or initiate removal proceedings. Both policies flow from the tax-and-spending law enacted in July 2025, which created the annual asylum fee and narrowed employment authorization for TPS beneficiaries.
The practical reach is significant. TPS holders from more than a dozen countries — including El Salvador, Sudan, Ukraine, Haiti, and Syria — fall within the order’s scope. Current TPS designations run through September 9 for El Salvador and October 19 for Sudan and Ukraine. For employers, the immediate effect is that workers whose permits would otherwise have lapsed under the challenged policies do not drop off payroll while the litigation proceeds.
This is temporary relief, not a final ruling. Judge Gorton indicated he expects to decide by August 5, 2026 whether the pause should remain in force for the duration of the case. Affected workers should keep their existing EAD and TPS documentation current, retain proof of any asylum fee payments already made, and watch for the early-August decision — the order preserves the status quo, but it does not resolve the underlying legal question of whether USCIS may impose these changes at all.
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