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The United States has revoked more than 100,000 visas since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the highest number recorded in a single year, the United States Department of State said on Monday.
The revocations follow Trump’s re-election on a hardline anti-migrant platform and represent an increase from 2024, when fewer than half that number of visas were cancelled under former president Joe Biden.
“The Trump administration has no higher priority than protecting American citizens and upholding American sovereignty,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
The department said “thousands” of visas were revoked because of criminal activity, including offences such as assault and drunk driving. It added that 8,000 of the cancelled visas belonged to students.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted he had revoked visas from foreign students who took part in protests against Israel. Rubio relied on a McCarthy-era law that allows the US to deny entry to foreign nationals deemed to be acting against American foreign policy interests.
Some of the students targeted under the policy have successfully challenged deportation orders in US courts.
The Trump administration has also tightened screening procedures for new visa applicants, including expanded social media checks, according to the State Department.
The Department of Homeland Security said last month that more than 605,000 people have been deported since Trump returned to office, while an additional 2.5 million migrants left the country voluntarily.
