US State Department Cancels 175,000 Visas, Quadrupling 2024 Pace Under Trump
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 11
US State Department Cancels 175,000 Visas, Quadrupling 2024 Pace Under Trump
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 11
Summary
More than 175,000 US visas have been revoked since Trump returned to office, with the State Department saying the monthly pace rose from about 8,000 in 2025 to above 10,000 in 2026.
The department said the cancellations targeted visa violations, crimes, fraud, calls for violence, immigration abuse and national security risks, citing offenses from assault and DUI to sexual abuse and trafficking.
Several cases involved speech or foreign policy grounds, including visa pulls tied to comments on Charlie Kirk’s killing and the earlier revocation of Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk’s visa after a Gaza op-ed.
The campaign runs through a continuous-vetting system screening roughly 55 million valid visa holders; the department has not broken down how many revocations involved serious crimes versus lesser infractions.
Biden’s State Department revoked about 40,000 visas in 2024, while Homeland Security separately says it has removed more than 605,000 people since Trump took office.