Since President Donald Trump entered office on an anti-immigrant agenda, the United States has cancelled over 100,000 visas, setting a record for a single year, the State Department announced in the first week of January 2026.
According to Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the State Department, “the Trump administration has no higher priority than protecting American citizens and upholding American sovereignty.”
Since Donald Trump’s second inauguration on January 20, 2025, the number has increased by 2.5 times compared to the total that was withdrawn during Joe Biden’s presidency in 2024.
According to the State Department, “thousands” of the visas were cancelled due to offences like assault and drunk driving.
Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, has proudly emphasised that he revoked the visas of students who demonstrated against Israel.
Although some of his well-known targets successfully contested deportation orders in court, Marco Rubio invoked a McCarthy-era statute that permits the United States to deny entry to individuals deemed to be against US foreign policy.
Eight thousand of the revoked visas were for students, according to the State Department.
The surge in revocations is driven by the State Department’s new “Continuous Vetting Centre,” which monitors foreign nationals in real-time even after they have entered the United States. This system flags minor infractions, such as speeding tickets or arrests where charges were later dropped, triggering automatic visa terminations via the SEVIS database.
However, this “strike first, ask later” approach has faced significant legal challenges. In 2025, federal judges in several states issued “Temporary Restraining Orders,” ruling that the Trump administration may have violated the “Administrative Procedure Act” and due process rights.
Notable cases, such as those of Turkish PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk and various Columbia University activists, saw courts temporarily restore legal status after finding the government’s actions were based on political dissent rather than genuine security threats.
Additionally, the Trump administration has toughened visa requirements, including screening visitors’ social media posts.
The revocation of visas is a part of a larger campaign of mass deportations that is being actively carried out by an increase in federal officials.