US State Department revoked at least 85,000 visas in 2025: Report
At least 85,000 US visas under all categories have been revoked in less than a year, CNN reported on Tuesday.
The Trump administration is said to have revoked the visas since January, according to an unnamed State Department official cited in the report.
The official said almost half of the revocations were allegedly due to offences like driving while under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants, assaults, and theft. The official says the number of revocations is more than double last year's under the administration of former President Joe Biden.
More recently, the State Department said it had revoked a handful of visas belonging to people who allegedly celebrated the death of right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk.
Almost 10 percent of revoked visas belonged to students, with the number being more than 8,000 in total.
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Some of the international students who have had their visas revoked have been targeted for their campus activism on issues such as Israel’s war on Gaza.
An executive order signed on 29 January said such “alien students” were seen as antisemitic, and if warranted, actions would be taken to “remove such aliens".
International students who were targeted for deportation for their pro-Palestine activism include Ranjani Srinivasan and Rumeysa Ozturk, as well as students who were permanent legal residents, such as Mahmoud Khalil.
Critics have said that being deported for expressing one’s opinion is a violation of the US First Amendment, and many of the students who were targeted for their pro-Palestinian activism have been successful in fighting against it.
In August, the State Department said it had revoked 6,000 visas, and two-thirds of the visas that were revoked were allegedly because students had violated US laws, with accusations such as overstays, burglary, assault, driving while under the influence, and support for terrorism.
Students and immigrants
However, it is not just foreign nationals in the country who are being targeted. Since June, prospective student visa applicants have faced increased scrutiny of their political views.
The US government plans to increase vetting of H1-B visa holders, reinterview those who have been granted admission to the US as refugees under the Biden administration, and increase the list of countries facing a full or partial travel ban.
The administration has also increased the cost of H-1B visas to make them less attractive to foreign nationals seeking to work in the US.
A major part of President Donald Trump’s agenda during his first term and current presidency has been targeting immigrants. Trump implemented a second, more refined version of the so-called Muslim Ban and has drastically reduced refugee admissions to the country.
The number of people entering the US border has dropped precipitously, and there has been an attempt to turbocharge the deportation of "illegal" immigrants inside the country.
The administration has also attempted to remove temporary protected status (TPS) for citizens of foreign countries who had been granted temporary leave to remain due to civil war or natural disaster, with Afghans and Syrians as the primary targets of that policy.
Middle East Eye reached out to the State Department for a comment, but had not received one by the time of publication.
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