Trump administration fights effort by Healey’s Venezuelan aide to get work papers

The Trump administration is fighting an effort by a Venezuelan aide to Gov. Maura Healey to quickly obtain a temporary work authorization, court documents filed Monday show.

Valentina Amaro Bowser, a media director for Healey, wants to force the Trump administration to process her employment authorization application as part of a lawsuit alleging officials are unreasonably delaying her bid for permanent residency because she is Venezuelan.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Fitzgerald, representing the Trump administration, argues the federal court in Boston lacks jurisdiction to force immigration authorities to decide if Bowser should immediately receive a work document.

In the court filing, Fitzgerald says the federal court doesn't have the authority to weigh in on a trio of policies from President Trump that placed a temporary pause on permanent residency applications for citizens of 39 countries, including Venezuela.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services "implemented a pause to allow the agency to reassess its security procedures in light of recent events, including the killing of national guardsmen in Washington, D.C.,” Fitzgerald wrote in the court filing. “No applications have been denied and no rights or obligations flow from that pause.”

Trump’s policies followed travel restrictions imposed in June and expanded later in the year after an Afghan national allegedly shot two National Guard troops in Washington. The Afghan national has pleaded not guilty.

An attorney for Bowser has argued she could lose her job because her H-1B work visa was set to expire last week, and federal officials have not granted her employment authorization while her green card application is pending.

The lawyer, Anthony Drago Jr., said Bowser has never been arrested or charged with a crime “anywhere in the world,” has been a model non-citizen who has complied with all U.S. immigration laws and is married to an American citizen.

“If relief is not granted on an emergency basis, more than just losing her current job, the plaintiff may not be able to find any other job due to the current economic situation," Drago said in a court filing.

Drago said the hardship Bowser will experience from losing her job "will be devastating."

Drago did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Healey said Bowser would be placed on unpaid leave for two weeks starting Feb. 14.

Bowser earned more than $93,00 last year as director of multicultural media. In her role, Bowser interacted with more than 60 non-English media outlets across the state to provide information about the Healey administration, according to the governor’s spokesperson.

Fitzgerald said the federal court in Boston cannot force the Trump administration to make a quick decision on Bowser’s employment authorization application for two reasons.

The Trump administration has not made a final judgment on Bowser’s application, and federal immigration law bars challenges to immigrant employment authorization decisions or actions made by the secretary of homeland security, according to Fitzgerald.

“USCIS’s policies respond to documented findings about widespread corruption, fraudulent documents, unreliable criminal records, and law enforcement reporting documenting that inadequate vetting resulted in entry of individuals involved in terrorism,” Fitzgerald said.

He also said any attempt to force a decision on Bowser’s employment authorization bid could lead the government to deny the application.