The Trump administration announced Thursday that it would reduce the duration of work permits for many categories of immigrants, as part of a series of restrictions decreed following last week's deadly attack in Washington, attributed to an Afghan national.

"Reducing the maximum validity period of work permits will result in more frequent background checks of foreigners seeking to work in the United States," the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) explained in a statement.

This will allow them to ensure that these immigrant workers "do not threaten public safety or promote harmful anti-American ideologies," says Joseph Edlow, the director of this agency under the Department of Homeland Security, quoted in the text.

"After the attack on National Guard troops in our capital by a foreigner welcomed into this country by the previous administration, it became even clearer that USCIS must frequently check the backgrounds of foreigners," he continued.

As a result, the maximum duration of work permits is reduced from five years to 18 months for a whole range of immigrant categories, including refugees and asylum seekers and those who have obtained a suspension of their obligation to leave the territory.

USCIS had already announced on Tuesday the suspension of all applications for "green cards" for permanent residents or naturalization from nationals of 19 countries.

Citizens of 12 of these countries, including Afghanistan, had already been banned from entering the United States since June by President Donald Trump in the name of "national security" considerations.

Those from the other seven countries were subject to visa restrictions under the same decision.

Since the attack in Washington on November 26, attributed to an Afghan national, which killed a National Guard soldier and seriously injured another soldier, the Trump administration has frozen any decision on granting asylum in the United States.

She also ordered a review of all "green cards" issued to nationals of the 19 targeted countries since June.

A controversy erupted between Republicans and Democrats, as the alleged perpetrator of the Washington attack was welcomed to the United States in September 2021, less than a month after the hasty withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

His asylum application, filed under Democrat Joe Biden, was approved in April 2025 under Donald Trump.