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The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourist visas of as many as 200,000 foreign nationals who have applied for asylum or are seeking asylum in the United States, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials.
If carried out, the measure would represent the largest mass revocation of U.S. visas in the country’s history and is likely to face legal challenges, AP News reported.
The State Department could begin announcing the revocations in the coming weeks.
What they are saying
According to the report, the policy would target B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to people who have sought asylum after entering the United States. The department is coordinating the effort with the Department of Homeland Security.
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- “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,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
Pigott declined to provide an estimate of how many visas could ultimately be revoked, saying the process would be conducted on a rolling basis and that the number remained subject to change.
The revocations would not necessarily mean immediate deportation. People with pending asylum claims could instead lose their classification as business or tourist visitors while their cases continue under a different immigration status, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the policy has not been finalized.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has criticized asylum applicants who enter the country on temporary visas before seeking protection.
- “People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau wrote Monday on X, arguing that asylum should not be used to bypass immigration rules.
B1 visas are generally issued to people traveling for business, while B2 visas cover tourism, family visits and medical treatment. Applicants are expected to demonstrate that they intend to leave the United States after their authorized stay.
The proposed policy would add another layer to an increasingly aggressive approach to visa enforcement. Over the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked roughly 175,000 visas involving people convicted or accused of crimes, including drunken driving, rape and robbery. Some revocations have also involved individuals who publicly criticized U.S. policies.
What you should know
The administration has separately sought to restrict so-called birth tourism and has repeatedly attempted to end birthright citizenship. Courts, including the Supreme Court, have blocked those efforts.
- The State Department documents indicate that the latest visa screening effort began after immigration authorities provided information about asylum applications filed by current B1 and B2 visa holders.
- Nairametrics reported on February 2026, Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the U.S. government had spent more than $40 million to deport roughly 300 migrants to third countries, putting the average cost at about $133,333 per person.
- The report examined a policy used when migrants’ home countries were unwilling or unable to accept them. Under the arrangement, the United States transferred migrants to distant countries including Rwanda, Palau, Eswatini, El Salvador and Equatorial Guinea.
Rwanda, which received seven deportees, accounted for about $1.1 million per person, according to the report. Overall, about $32 million was directed to five countries: Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Palau and Eswatini.
