The US State Department said on Monday it has revoked more than 175,000 visas from foreign nationals since US President Donald Trump returned to office, as his administration continues an expansive immigration crackdown that has stripped travel and residency privileges from tens of thousands of people.
The department said in a statement that the revocations targeted foreign nationals who “violated the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against US citizens, defrauded Americans, abused our immigration system, or endangered national security.”
Trump Administration Visa Revocations: What Grounds Has The Department Cited For Revoking Visas?
Officials said the majority of the cancellations stemmed from encounters with law enforcement, with a specific cluster of offences dominating the total. “The majority of these visas were revoked due to law enforcement encounters for a range of criminal activity, with assault, driving under the influence, theft, and drug crimes being the leading causes,” the department said in its statement.
It added that a significant share were also revoked over reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud and embezzlement.
Among the specific cases cited by officials were individuals charged with felony rape and sexual battery, kidnapping and human trafficking, and one person facing more than a dozen counts of possessing child sexual abuse material, according to Reuters.
The department also said some revocations involved foreign nationals who “celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk,” including one who wrote online that “when fascists die, democrats don’t complain.”
Trump Administration Visa Revocations: How Does This Compare With Previous Years’ Totals?
The scale of this year’s revocations marks a sharp escalation from the administration’s already record-setting first year. The department revoked more than 100,000 visas over the course of 2025 alone, itself more than double the roughly 40,000 revoked in 2024 under the Biden administration, according to reports. This year’s pace has continued climbing, with revocations averaging more than 10,000 per month in 2026, compared with roughly 8,000 per month across all of last year.
Trump Administration Visa Revocations: Has This Extended Beyond The Cases US Highlighted?
Beyond the cases singled out in Monday’s release, the crackdown has also swept up thousands of students and visa holders in less publicised categories. Although the US State Department’s announcement made no direct mention of it, the administration has separately revoked thousands of student visas as part of a wider campaign, targeting student activists on college campuses, expanding social media screening for certain visa holders, and citing security concerns in moves against visas held by Chinese nationals.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said roughly seven months into Trump’s second term that more than 6,000 student visas had already been revoked during that period.
Trump Administration Visa Revocations: What Concerns Have Immigration Lawyers Raised?
The heavy reliance on “law enforcement encounters” as grounds for revocation has drawn scrutiny from within the immigration legal community. Some immigration lawyers have reportedly expressed concern that the administration may be revoking visas over minor encounters or charges that never proceeded through the judicial process, raising questions about how thoroughly individual cases are being reviewed before visas are cancelled.
The US State Department, for its part, has framed the effort as central to its mission, stating plainly, “A US visa is a privilege, not a right,” and pledging to continue using “every tool available” to identify and remove foreign nationals it considers a threat to public safety.
