Overview
- Valentina Amaro Bowser, a Venezuelan-born media director in Gov. Maura Healey’s office, filed a Jan. 27 federal lawsuit seeking permission to keep working in Massachusetts.
- Her H-1B extension, filed by the state in December, remains pending under the Trump administration’s pause on processing applications from countries that include Venezuela.
- Her current employment authorization expires Feb. 14, and a court filing says her job will only be held until Feb. 28 without proof of eligibility; she has been on unpaid leave since Saturday.
- The complaint argues USCIS unlawfully halted in-country benefit adjudications under a proclamation focused on restricting entry and calls the Venezuela hold arbitrary and capricious.
- Healey publicly defended Bowser, saying she followed the rules, and criticized federal policy for penalizing lawful immigrants.