The United States Department of State has revoked more than 250,000 visas since Donald Trump returned to the White House, as part of a broad review of foreign nationals authorized to travel to the country and a tightening of immigration and security controls.
The figure was confirmed by a State Department official to Fox News Digital, which reported this Wednesday that the cancellations are due to various reasons, including violations of visa conditions, criminal activities, fraud, abuse of the immigration system, and potential threats to national security.
Among the annulled documents are 2,300 visas related to the so-called birth tourism, a practice through which foreign women travel to the United States with the specific purpose of giving birth so that their children obtain U.S. citizenship at birth, according to the source.
"Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio, the State Department has already revoked more than 250,000 visas," stated the agency's spokesperson, Tommy Pigott, who presented the figure as a result of increased scrutiny on the holders of these documents.
Pigott also stated that each visa decision is regarded by the Government as a matter of national security and assured that the authorities maintain a continuous evaluation process to identify cases of individuals linked to crimes, fraud, terrorism, or violations of immigration conditions.
That line aligns with the official policy of the State Department, which recently expanded the review of the online presence of certain categories of non-immigrant visa applicants.
The State Department also revoked this week the visas of 27 Latin American officials and former officials, as well as some family members, under accusations of corruption.
Those affected come from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, according to information released by the network.
The new figure represents a significant increase compared to August, when the Department of State reported more than 175,000 revoked visas under the current administration.
At that time, the authorities noted that a significant portion of the cancellations were related to encounters with law enforcement due to incidents such as assaults, driving under the influence of alcohol, thefts, and drug-related crimes.
There were also reports of reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud, and embezzlement.
During the summer, the Trump administration also began preparing for the possible revocation of business and tourist visas for up to 200,000 foreigners who later applied for asylum in the United States.
The review was aimed at B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to individuals who later submitted asylum applications.
The Undersecretary of State, Christopher Landau, then defended that asylum should not be used as a way to circumvent immigration laws and questioned the requests he deemed unfounded.
The tightening of controls has also extended to the process of evaluating new visas.
Starting from October 1st, the United States will expand social media screening for applicants of I, TN, and TD visas, categories that include representatives of foreign media, professionals from Mexico and Canada under the USMCA, and their dependent family members.
La revocación masiva de visas es solo una parte del panorama migratorio en constante cambio. Sigue todas las novedades sobre políticas, deportaciones y trámites en nuestra sección de
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