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The U.S. State Department said Monday that the United States has revoked more than 100,000 visas since President Donald Trump began a second term, describing the move as part of its effort to protect the U.S.
Media reports described the figure as unprecedented within a single year.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said, “No priority of the Trump administration is higher than protecting American citizens and safeguarding U.S. sovereignty,” as he put it.
The State Department said “thousands” of visas were revoked over the commission of crimes, which may include assault or driving under the influence of alcohol.
The statement came amid the administration’s broader crackdown on immigrants, which has extended to international students and activists critical of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Legal challenges have pushed back against these actions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the revocation of visas for students who took part in protests against Israel.
Rubio relied on an old law that allows the United States to bar entry to foreign nationals deemed opposed to U.S. foreign policy, even though some of those targeted were able to win court appeals they filed against deportation orders.
The State Department said 8,000 of the revoked visas were for students.
Turkish PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was arrested on the street by plainclothes ICE agents after co-authoring an op-ed on Gaza, was later released from ICE detention, and a federal judge restored her student record in December.
Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful U.S. resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, was also released and has legally challenged the revocation of his visa.
The Trump administration has tightened visa vetting procedures, including reviewing incoming travelers’ social media posts.
The visa revocations are part of a broader mass deportation campaign being carried out through the deployment of federal forces in a number of U.S. cities.
The Department of Homeland Security said last month that the Trump administration deported more than 605,000 people and that 2.5 million left voluntarily.
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