We make a sacred promise to the men and women who wear this nation’s uniform. It’s a promise that while they stand guard for us, we will stand guard for them. When they are deployed to the far corners of the world, we pray for their safety. But when they are stationed here, on our own soil, that safety should be an absolute guarantee. Turns out, it wasn’t.

That promise was shattered in our nation’s capital just before Thanksgiving. The tragic, senseless ambush of two National Guard members was not the result of some distant war, but a failure right here at home. It was a brutal reminder that the most dangerous threats are often the ones welcomed with open arms by policies that put globalist fantasies ahead of the safety of actual Americans.

Now, finally, the Trump administration is taking decisive action to right this wrong and restore sanity to our immigration system.

From the ‘Daily Caller’:

“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 Joe Edlow said in a public 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.”

Trump Fights Back Against Abusive Immigration

And just like that, the adults are back in the room. In a move that puts American safety above all else, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it is dramatically scaling back the validity of work permits for asylum seekers and other foreign nationals. Instead of the dangerously naive five-year timeframe that gave potential threats a long leash, permits will now be valid for only 18 months.

This isn’t just some bureaucratic paper-shuffling; it’s a fundamental restoration of vigilance. The policy ensures that every foreign national seeking to work here will be subject to more frequent and rigorous vetting. It’s called common sense. It’s a clear message from President Trump: the days of rubber-stamping applications and simply hoping for the best are over.

A Crisis Inherited From the Biden Years

This necessary policy shift was born from an unacceptable tragedy. The change comes directly in response to the horrific murder of West Virginia Army National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, who was allegedly shot and killed by Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national. Her fellow guardsman, Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, was left in critical condition.

The most infuriating part of this attack is that it was entirely preventable. Lakanwal was brought into the United States under the notoriously lax “Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome” program. This wasn’t an isolated incident. In the same week, two other Afghan nationals from the same program were arrested—one for making bomb threats in Texas and another for providing support to ISIS-K. This is the predictable, deadly fallout of the last administration’s incompetence—and it’s the mess President Trump is now tasked with cleaning up.

Securing the Homeland Is Not Negotiable

Giving a foreign national from a high-risk region a five-year work permit is like giving them a five-year hall pass to operate within our country with minimal oversight. It’s a reckless gamble with your family’s safety—a fact the open-borders crowd conveniently ignores. In a world of ever-changing threats and allegiances, allowing years to pass without re-evaluating an individual’s status is a dereliction of government’s most basic duty.

The new 18-month standard is a common-sense security measure. It forces the system to stay alert, ensuring that individuals who may have developed dangerous anti-American ideologies or connections do not remain undetected for years on end. This isn’t about punishing immigrants; it’s about protecting Americans.

That, right there, is leadership. It isn’t about virtue signaling or appeasing a radical lobby. It’s about taking the painful but necessary steps to secure the homeland and honor the promise we make to every soldier like Specialist Beckstrom. Under President Trump, “America First” is not just a slogan—it is a promise being kept.

Key Takeaways

• The Trump administration is slashing work permit validity from five years to 18 months.
• This policy directly responds to the murder of a National Guard Specialist by a foreign national.
• The alleged attacker was admitted under the previous administration’s failed vetting program.
• Vigilant vetting and national security are finally being prioritized over open-borders ideology.

Sources: Daily Caller, The Washington Post