State Department revokes over 250,000 visas under Trump administration crackdown

The U.S. State Department has revoked more than 250,000 visas since President Donald Trump took office, a figure the agency describes as a historic milestone in its expanded vetting of foreign nationals. A State Department official told Fox News Digital that the revocations stem from a variety of violations, including breaches of visa terms, criminal conduct, calls for violence against Americans, fraud, and threats to national security.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that under Secretary Marco Rubio, the department is treating every visa decision as a national security matter. "A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right," Pigott said, adding that the administration will not stop until foreign nationals who threaten community safety are held accountable.

Among the recent actions, the State Department revoked 2,300 visas connected to birth tourism. This practice involves pregnant foreign nationals traveling to the United States specifically to give birth so their children automatically receive citizenship. In a separate move on Monday, officials revoked the visas of 27 Latin American current and former officials and their family members from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru due to corruption accusations.

The administration is also preparing a broader effort targeting business and tourist visas held by as many as 200,000 foreigners who have applied for asylum in the U.S. This initiative focuses on B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to individuals who later sought asylum. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau previously wrote on X that Americans were "fed up" with what he described as "bogus asylum claims," arguing that asylum is intended as a narrow safe harbor for those persecuted based on race, religion, nationality, social group membership, or political opinion, rather than a loophole to circumvent immigration laws.

Landau noted that frivolous claims have swamped the system, potentially delaying adjudication for years. In August alone, the State Department revoked more than 175,000 visas. The majority of those revocations were linked to law enforcement encounters involving criminal activity. Leading causes included assault, driving under the influence, theft, and drug crimes. A significant share of the revocations also cited reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud, and embezzlement.