Trump Administration Revokes More Than 300,000 Visas Amid Immigration Crackdown
The administration of US President Donald Trump has revoked more than 300,000 US visas during his second term, the US State Department said on Tuesday.
The visa revocations are part of the federal government’s broader crackdown on illegal immigration, Reuters reported.
The pace of visa revocations has accelerated significantly in recent weeks. Trump has said his administration’s immigration crackdown and deportation drive aim to strengthen domestic security. However, rights advocates say the measures violate due process and freedom of expression, creating an atmosphere of insecurity, particularly for ethnic minorities who fear being subjected to racial profiling.
Announcing the latest figures on X, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the Trump administration had revoked more visas at a faster rate than any previous administration in history.
He said the administration had zero tolerance for foreign nationals in the United States on visas who violate the law, commit fraud or undermine national security.
Among the visa revocations particularly condemned by rights advocates are those targeting foreign pro-Palestinian protesters who demonstrated against attacks by US ally Israel in Gaza, as well as foreign nationals whose social media posts commented on the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Alongside efforts to deport foreign protesters, the Trump administration has intensified scrutiny of the social media accounts of immigrants and visa applicants.
Rights advocates say the government is using national security as a pretext to target critics and exploiting isolated cases of fraud to broadly target immigrant communities, including Somali Americans in Minnesota.
Although Trump campaigned in 2024 on a promise to curb illegal immigration, his administration has also made legal immigration more difficult. For example, it has imposed hefty fees on certain employment visas.
Source: Reuters
