politics
US state department has canceled more than 175,000 visas since Trump’s return to office
Revocations targeted foreign nationals who allegedly broke terms of their visas, government says
TL;DR
- Over 175,000 visas have been revoked by the US Department of State since Donald Trump returned to office.
- This marks a quadrupled pace of revocations compared to Joe Biden's final year in the White House.
- Reasons for revocation include breaking visa terms, committing crimes, calling for violence, defrauding citizens, abusing the immigration system, and endangering national security.
- The department provided anecdotal cases of serious crimes, but also cited instances involving political speech and comments on public figures.
- There is a lack of clarity on how the total number of revocations breaks down by category, making it difficult to ascertain the proportion related to serious crimes versus lesser infractions.
- Critics argue that the broad lumping of different reasons for revocation makes the headline number less meaningful and raises accountability concerns.
- The State Department described the revocations as part of a continuous vetting system that screens foreign nationals for continued eligibility.
- Visa cancellations are distinct from deportations, which are handled by the Department of Homeland Security.