US State Dept touts sharp rise in visa revocations under Trump crackdown

By Eric Martin

 

The State Department has revoked more than twice as many visas since President Donald Trump’s inauguration as the same period in 2024, an official said, as the White House looks to tout its crackdown on foreigners that it says pose a threat to public safety.

 

Those revocations include nearly four times as many student visas, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. According to the official there are more than 55 million foreign visa-holders in the US, and their status is vetted constantly.  

 

On Monday, the State Department said it had revoked the visas of more than 6,000 international students, including between 200 and 300 over terrorism concerns.

 

The administration has sought to highlight how it’s getting tough on people who overstay their visas, engage in criminal activity or pose a threat to public safety. But Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have also come under criticism over allegations that it’s revoked visas of people who disagree with the administration’s views, especially around Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

 

That scrutiny has been part of Trump’s broader mass deportation campaign, which has seen masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carry out thousands of arrests across the country. About 37 per cent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in July were of people with no US criminal convictions or pending charges, according to recent data. 

 

In May, Rubio ordered US embassies worldwide to stop scheduling interviews for student visas as the Trump administration weighed stricter vetting of applicants’ social-media profiles.