The Trump administration has sharply reduced the validity of work permits for refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants, cutting the duration from five years to just 18 months.

The decision, announced Thursday, marks the latest escalation in the White House’s tightening immigration policies and follows a high-profile shooting incident in Washington, DC.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the maximum validity period for employment authorisation documents will be reduced to 18 months. Previously, many eligible migrants, including refugees and individuals granted asylum, received work permits valid for five years.

The USCIS said the change applies to migrants admitted as refugees, those granted asylum, people whose deportation has been suspended, and others legally permitted to work. It will affect applicants with pending cases and all new applications filed on or after December 5.

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Government data shows that as of June, 434,000 asylum seekers, 24,000 people granted asylum, and more than 12,000 refugees had pending work authorization applications, highlighting the scale of the policy’s impact.

Policy linked to National Guard shooting

The announcement came just days after two National Guard members were shot in the US capital, allegedly by an Afghan man who entered the country through a resettlement programme following the 2021 US military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

USCIS Director Joseph Edlow directly connected the incident to the policy shift, saying more frequent vetting is needed to protect public safety.

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“Reducing the maximum validity period for employment authorisation will ensure that those seeking to work in the United States do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies,” Edlow said.

He added that the shooting made it “even more clear that USCIS must conduct frequent vetting of aliens.”

Halt of immigration applications from 19 nations

Thursday’s decision came just 48 hours after the Trump administration halted immigration applications, including green cards and citizenship processing, for citizens from 19 nations already under US travel restrictions.

These countries include Afghanistan, Yemen, Haiti, Venezuela, Sudan, and Somalia.

President Trump, who has long pledged to dramatically reduce immigration and deport millions of people living in the US without legal status, said after the shooting that he planned to “permanently pause migration from all Third World countries.”

Shorter permits improve vetting

In its statement, USCIS said it shortened work permit validity to allow the agency to screen migrants more frequently and identify individuals with “potentially harmful intent” so they can be processed for removal if necessary.

Also Read: US halts immigration applications from 19 countries

The administration framed the overhaul as essential to national security and public confidence in the immigration system.

The policy is part of a broader effort to intensify oversight of legal immigration pathways, particularly for refugees and asylum seekers, whom the administration has increasingly framed in security-related terms.