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. The move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history. It would likely face legal challenges.
The State Department is expected to announce the revocation in the coming weeks, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet. The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. The visas were issued between 2016 and 2026. Their holders have sought asylum or are now seeking 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,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott. He declined to comment on the number.
“As the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis,” Pigott said. The State Department did not specify the number of visas that will be revoked in the process.
What happens to those affected
Deportation would not necessarily follow. 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. 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.
B1 visas are for business trips. B2 visas cover tourism, family visits, or medical care. 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.
A broader crackdown
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. 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. policies, particularly in the Middle East.
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. He alleged on X that the American immigration system “has long been swamped by frivolous asylum claims.” “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,” he added. He cited the case of a Colombian citizen who came to the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum.
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 crackdown has faced legal challenges. Trump says the crackdown aims to improve domestic security in the United States. While Trump campaigned in 2024 on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, his administration has also made legal immigration more difficult, for example, by imposing new and expensive fees for applicants for certain work visas.
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. Trump has tried several times to end birthright citizenship. Courts rejected those challenges. The Supreme Court was among them.
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. Citizenship and Immigration Services.