WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked about 80,000 nonimmigrant visas since his inauguration on Jan. 20 for crimes ranging from driving under the influence to assault and robbery, a senior State Department official said Wednesday.
The scope of the revocations, first reported by the Washington Examiner, reflects a broad immigration crackdown launched when Trump took office, deporting record numbers of immigrants, including some who had valid visas.
The administration has also adopted a stricter visa policy, with stricter social media vetting and expanded monitoring.
About 16,000 of the visa revocations were related to drink-driving cases, while about 12,000 were for assault and another 8,000 for robbery.
“These three offenses accounted for nearly half of this year’s revocations,” the senior State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In August, a State Department spokesman said Washington had revoked more than 6,000 student visas for excessive stays and violating the law, including a small number for “supporting terrorism.”
The department also said last month that it had revoked the visas of at least six people over social media comments about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May that he had revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people, including students, because of their involvement in activities that he said ran counter to U.S. foreign policy priorities.
State Department directives this year have ordered U.S. diplomats abroad to be on the lookout for any applicants Washington may consider hostile to the United States and with a history of political activism.
Trump administration officials have said that student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation for their support of the Palestinians and their criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, calling their actions a threat to US foreign policy and accusing them of being pro-Hamas.
