US plans visa revocations for asylum seekers

The Trump administration plans to revoke business and tourism visas held by foreigners who have applied for asylum or are currently seeking it in the United States, a move that could affect up to 200,000 people and become the largest single mass visa revocation in U.S. history, the Associated Press reported.

The State Department said Monday it was working with the Department of Homeland Security on the effort, which targets people who entered the country as short-term visitors and later sought asylum.

“We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

The department did not say how many visas would be revoked. The Associated Press, citing State Department documents and two U.S. officials, reported the figure could reach 200,000. The AP said the action would apply to B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026. Those visas are used for business and tourism travel.

The planned revocations would not automatically lead to deportation, the AP reported. Most people with pending asylum cases would instead be moved into a different immigration category, losing their status as business or tourism travelers while their asylum cases continue.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau criticized the use of visitor visas followed by asylum applications in a post on X on Monday. “People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau wrote. “Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law.” The Guardian reported that Landau also alleged the U.S. immigration system “has long been swamped by frivolous asylum claims.”

The State Department has said the Trump administration has revoked more than 175,000 visas for foreign nationals. Al Jazeera, citing State Department figures, reported that over the past 18 months those revocations included people convicted or accused of crimes ranging from drunk driving to rape and robbery, as well as people who publicly criticized U.S. policies, particularly in the Middle East.

The planned action is part of a broader immigration crackdown pursued by President Donald Trump, who has said such measures are intended to improve domestic security. The administration has revoked visas and green cards, pushed an aggressive deportation drive and introduced additional restrictions on visa applicants.

Since Trump began his second term last year, his administration has demanded more information about applicants’ social media histories, required expensive bonds for some visa processing and banned the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries, Al Jazeera reported. The Guardian reported that the administration has also made legal immigration more difficult, including by imposing new and expensive fees for applicants for certain work visas.

Rights groups say the crackdown has violated free speech and due process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling. The government’s immigration measures have also faced legal challenges.