The Trump administration on Thursday said it would reduce the period of time that work permits are valid for refugees, asylees and other immigrants granted legal protections in the U.S., its latest move to tighten immigration procedures.
The overhaul also applies to immigrants with pending applications for asylum or permanent U.S. residency, known as green cards. Those processes that usually take years to complete, mainly because of a massive backlog of unresolved cases.
Under the new rules, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it will issue work permits to these populations that last for a maximum of 18 months, instead of the current 5-year period.
In its announcement, USCIS cited the attack against two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last week, arguing the change will allow the agency to vet and screen immigrants more frequently when they file to renew their work permits.
The suspect in that attack, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the U.S. in September 2021 under the Biden administration but his asylum application was approved in April 2025, several months after President Trump took office for a second time.
“Reducing the maximum validity period for employment authorization will ensure that those seeking to work in the United States do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a statement.
“After the attack on National Guard service members in our nation’s capital by an alien who was admitted into this country by the previous administration, it’s even more clear that USCIS must conduct frequent vetting of aliens,” Edlow added.
The new policy will apply to work permit applications filed after Friday, Dec. 5, as well as those that are pending as of that date.
In the wake of last week’s shooting in D.C., which killed one National Guard member and left another in critical condition, the Trump administration has dramatically expanded its immigration crackdown, curtailing pathways for certain immigrants to enter or stay in the U.S. legally.
The administration has frozen all asylum requests overseen by USCIS, paused visa and immigration applications filed by any Afghan national and halted all legal immigration cases, including citizenship ceremonies, for nationals of the 19 countries listed on Mr. Trump’s “travel ban.”
U.S. officials told CBS News on Tuesday the Trump administration is considering expanding that travel ban to include a total of 30 nations, also in response to the shooting in D.C.