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US set for largest mass visa revocation in history targeting up to 200,000 foreigners, officials say
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+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump administration plans to revoke up to 200,000 visas, official says The 200,000 revocations will not happen in one fell swoop, but on a rolling basis, the Trump administration source said.
− set for mass visa revocation of up to 200,000 foreigners, officials say The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States.
+ But experts suggest that the revocation, while potentially precedent setting, is largely performative.
− Immigration U.S.
+ Immigration Trump administration plans to revoke up to 200,000 visas, official says August 25, 202612:56 AM ET Sergio Martínez-Beltrán
President Donald Trump, alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L), speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Maryland, on July 31, 2026.
− set for largest mass visa revocation in history, up to 200,000 foreigners, officials say August 25, 202612:56 AM ET By
The Associated Press
President Trump walks past Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives for a roundtable on the American mining industry on Aug.
+ Aaron Schwartz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
The Trump administration is preparing to cancel 200,000 immigration visas nationwide, in what could be the largest revocation effort in U.S.
− 7 at the State Department in Washington.
+ history, according to an administration source familiar with the policy who was not authorized to speak on the record.
But experts suggest that the revocation, while potentially precedent setting, is largely performative.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott says the agency is identifying and revoking the visas of immigrants who came to the U.S.
− Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP hide caption
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.
+ claiming to be short-term visitors either for tourism or business, but then filed for asylum.
− Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S.
+ "Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio's leadership, we are making clear that a visa is a privilege — not a right.
− officials.
+ ...
− The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
"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," said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
He declined to comment on the number of visas that might be revoked, saying "as the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis."
The revocations would not necessarily result in their immediate deportation, the officials said.
+ Obtaining a visa in order to seek asylum is fraud — which is grounds for visa revocation.
− Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet.
+ This is an ongoing process as we uphold the integrity of our visa and asylum laws," Pigott said in an email.
− Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year, his administration has steadily ramped up restrictions on visa applicants — demanding more information about their social media histories, requiring the posting of expensive bonds for the processing of visas, and outright banning the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries.
+ The 200,000 revocations will not happen in one fell swoop, but on a rolling basis, the administration source said.
− In a social media post on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called out people who he said try to use tourist and business visas to get into the United States and then apply for asylum.
+ Immigration attorney Nicolette Glazer, however, called the announcement an "empty effort."
"It doesn't have any consequences," Glazer said.
− "People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims," Landau wrote on X.
+ If an immigrant overstays their short-term visa, they are already breaking the law, Glazer said.
− "Asylum isn't supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law." Landau cited the case of a Colombian citizen who came to the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum.
+ So, this new policy is not making it easier to deport anyone — it's just revoking visas that are already invalid.
− B1 visas are generally issued for business trips and B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care.
+ But Glazer says this could affect people who have been in the U.S.
− It was not immediately clear from the documents or the officials how many of these visa holders are seeking or have sought asylum in the United States and would be affected by the revocations.
+ for a long time, and have established roots here, including by having U.S. citizen children.
− Current applicants for B1 and B2 visas are asked to affirm that they will not apply for asylum in the United States and prove that they intend to return to their home countries.
+ She says there's a narrative that people apply for asylum to buy time so they can qualify for an adjustment of status, especially if they have a children who were born in the U.S.
− In the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked about 175,000 visas for people who have been convicted or accused of crimes ranging from drunken driving to rape and robbery, as well as for people who have spoken out publicly against U.S.
+ "I think it's just the political spin, and my suspicion is this is an extension of the birth tourism rhetoric that they're pushing now," Glazer said.
− policies, particularly in the Middle East.
+ "The law already says if they're overstayed, they're deportable."
Fraud does happen in the immigration system — that's when someone misrepresents material facts to get a benefit or a status they would not be eligible for otherwise. But a 2015 report from the Government Accountability Office from shows that termination of asylum cases due to fraud isn't common.
− The administration has also moved to crack down on so-called birth tourism, a practice the administration claims is used by foreign pregnant women to come to the United States to give birth so that their child will benefit from birthright citizenship.
+ In arguing that fraud is rampant in the system, the State Department has pointed to the case of a Colombian national who came to the U.S.
− Trump has tried several times to end birthright citizenship, but those challenges have been rejected by courts, including the Supreme Court.
+ in 2015.A few months before his stay was due to expire, he applied for political asylum.
− The State Department documents obtained by the AP suggest screening of current B1 and B2 visa holders began after the State Department received information about asylum requests from the U.S.
+ Activist Beto Coral was deported to Colombia in July.
− Citizenship and Immigration Services.
+ While in the U.S., he supported a leftist Colombian presidential candidate and he spoke out against the right-wing candidate — who is now president — Abelardo de la Espriella. De La Espriella was backed by the Trump administration.
+ Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on X Monday that if Coral's case, "isn't a perfect example of the dysfunction and abuse of our asylum system, I don't know what is."
State Department Correspondent Michele Kelemen in Washington contributed to this report.