The Trump administration tightened immigration restrictions and reduced the validity of work permits for refugees.
On Thursday, the administration announced a new crackdown on immigration policies, reducing the duration of work permits granted to refugees, asylum seekers, and other categories of immigrants from five years to just 18 months. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services indicated that this measure aims to enable authorities to conduct more regular checks on foreign nationals.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the decision will affect hundreds of thousands of immigrants and will have direct repercussions on sectors reliant on work permit holders, including meatpacking companies.
Immigration is a top priority for the Trump administration, with data from the Department of Homeland Security showing that nearly two million people have left the United States since January, including 530,000 deportations and 1.6 million who left voluntarily.
The administration aims to increase deportations to 600,000 by the year’s end, with the White House referring to these departures as part of ongoing “mass deportation operations.”
In several Democratic-led cities, immigration and customs enforcement has ramped up operations targeting what the authorities label “criminal immigrants.” The Washington Post notes that 80% of those detained in Washington, D.C., had no prior criminal records.
On August 11, Trump declared a public safety emergency in Washington, alleging a rise in violent gangs. Since this announcement, immigration and customs enforcement has carried out approximately 1,100 arrests in the capital.
