Trump tightens immigration again, cuts refugee work permits to just 18 months
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump tightens immigration again, cuts refugee work permits to just 18 months")
US President Donald Trump Photograph: (AFP)
Trump cuts migrant work permits from five years to 18 months, tightening immigration rules days after freezing applications from 19 countries.
The Donald Trump administration on Thursday (Dec 4) sharply reduced the duration refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants can hold valid work permits in the US. The government has dramatically reduced the period from five years to 18 months. This change marks the latest step in the administration's sweeping immigration crackdown. The decision came just two days after the government halted immigration applications for citizens from 19 countries that are already under travel restrictions.
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Eliminating threat to 'public safety'
Joseph Edlow, director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said that the Washington shooting of two National Guard members was a key factor behind the shift. Two US National Guard soldiers were critically injured on Wednesday (Nov 26) in a targeted shooting just blocks from the White House. An Afghan man who arrived in the United States through a resettlement program after the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan was arrested over the shooting. One of the National Guard members succumbed to her injuries later.
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Edlow said that shorter work permit durations would allow more frequent security reviews and help ensure that people authorised to work in the country do not pose a threat. ""Reducing the maximum validity period for employment authorisation willensure that those seeking to work in the United States do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies."
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He added that the attack underscored the need for tighter and more regular vetting. "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."
Will you be affected by the US work permit reduction?
The new limit will apply broadly to refugees, individuals who have been granted asylum and migrants whose deportations have been postponed by the government.
