Chamber Pushes Back on DHS Rule Targeting DACA Work Permits

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has formally opposed key provisions of a Department of Homeland Security proposal that would tighten work authorization rules for DACA recipients.

In a comment letter dated August 4, 2026, addressed to the Regulatory Coordination Division of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Camp Springs, Maryland, the Chamber responded to DHS's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, "Clarification of Discretionary Employment Authorization for Certain Aliens," published at 91 Fed. Reg. 34,352 on June 5, 2026 (DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0067).

The Chamber limited its comments to the provisions of the Proposed Rule that affect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Specifically, the business group targeted three elements: new criminal-history bars, automatic-termination provisions, and biometrics requirements that apply to the category (c)(33) employment authorization document (EAD).

The letter represents the Chamber's intervention in a regulatory process that could reshape employment eligibility for a population of workers whom U.S. employers across multiple sectors currently rely on. Category (c)(33) EADs are the specific work permits tied to DACA status.

The proposed rule, as identified in the Chamber's filing, would make discretionary employment authorization harder to obtain and keep for certain noncitizens. The criminal-history bars would create new categories of disqualification. The automatic-termination provisions would end work authorization without individualized review in specified circumstances. The biometrics requirements would add processing steps for applicants.

The Chamber's comment was submitted through the formal docket process at USCIS, the DHS agency responsible for adjudicating employment authorization requests.

The full text of the Chamber's argument, including its detailed objections to each provision, is available through the organization's immigration policy page. The truncated public filing confirms the scope of the business community's concerns: it chose to engage on the DACA-specific provisions rather than the broader sweep of the rule.

Stakeholders can track the rulemaking under Docket No. USCIS-2026-0067 as DHS weighs comments before deciding whether to finalize, modify, or withdraw the proposed regulations — an outcome that will directly determine hiring and workforce planning for employers of DACA recipients.