The United States Department of State has cancelled more than 175,000 visas since President Donald Trump returned to office, with the administration revoking visas at more than four times the rate recorded during President Joe Biden’s final year, according to figures released by the department.
The State Department said the revocations targeted foreign nationals allegedly found to have violated the conditions of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against Americans, defrauded US citizens, abused the immigration system or posed potential national security threats.
Many of the cancellations, according to the department, followed encounters with law enforcement, with offences including assault, drunk driving, theft and drug-related crimes among the leading reasons cited.
Other cases involved allegations of reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse and fraud.
The department said more than 100,000 visas were cancelled in 2025 alone, while the pace has continued to rise in 2026, increasing from about 8,000 revocations monthly in 2025 to more than 10,000 per month this year.
By comparison, the Biden administration cancelled about 40,000 visas throughout 2024.
However, the State Department has not provided a detailed breakdown of the 175,000 cancellations by category, making it difficult to determine how many involved serious criminal offences and how many arose from less serious immigration violations, including visa overstays.
The department cited several cases to illustrate its visa-revocation campaign, including foreign nationals accused of serious criminal offences and others who had allegedly violated US immigration or public safety rules.
Some of the revocations have also involved political speech, raising concerns among immigration advocates and legal experts over the scope of the administration’s powers.
One prominent case involved Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University whose visa was revoked after she co-wrote an opinion article criticising the university’s position on the war in Gaza.
The department also said it had cancelled the visas of several foreign nationals over comments they made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also determined that some foreign nationals are deportable on foreign policy grounds, including individuals the department linked to foreign influence operations and governments considered hostile to the United States.
The State Department further disclosed that a US embassy in North Africa had cancelled more than 100 visas belonging to parents accused of travelling to the country primarily so their children could be born as American citizens.
The administration has separately sought to restrict birthright citizenship through an executive order, although the policy is being challenged in court.
The latest figures form part of a broader immigration enforcement policy under the Trump administration. Visa cancellations are separate from deportations, which are handled by the Department of Homeland Security.
The Homeland Security agency has said more than 605,000 people have been removed from the United States since Trump returned to office.
The State Department said the visa cancellations were facilitated by a continuous vetting system introduced last year, which screens about 55 million foreign nationals holding valid US visas for indications that they may no longer qualify to remain eligible.
“A US visa is a privilege, not a right,” the department said.
But immigration law experts have criticised the lack of detailed information surrounding the cancellations, arguing that the administration may be exercising broad discretionary powers without sufficient accountability.
Adriel D. Orozco, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, said grouping foreign policy cases together with offences such as driving under the influence and political speech made the headline figure difficult to assess.
He also raised concerns about the extent of discretion being exercised by the administration in cancelling visas.
The State Department, however, defended its approach, saying it revokes visas whenever there are indications of potential ineligibility, threats to public safety or other circumstances that warrant reconsideration of visa eligibility.