Why Is the US Cancelling So Many Visas?

The US State Department announced on August 10, 2026, that it has cancelled more than 175,000 visas since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. That is roughly four times the pace seen during Joe Biden's final year as president. (The Guardian; Reuters)

For comparison, the State Department cancelled about 40,000 visas in all of 2024 under the Biden administration. The Trump administration cancelled more than 100,000 visas in 2025 alone. The monthly pace has since climbed from roughly 8,000 per month in 2025 to more than 10,000 per month in 2026. (The Guardian)

A visa is an official document that gives a foreign national permission to enter or stay in the United States. When the government revokes a visa, it takes that permission away. These cancellations come from a new screening system introduced last year that continuously checks roughly 55 million people who hold valid US visas. Most of the cancellations involved criminal activity, the department said. (The Guardian; Al Jazeera)

The State Department said the cancellations targeted people who allegedly broke visa rules, committed crimes, called for violence against Americans, defrauded US citizens, abused the immigration system, or endangered national security. The most common reasons cited included assault, drunk driving, theft, drug offenses, reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, and fraud. (The Guardian)

The department has not said how the 175,000 cancellations break down by category. That means it is unclear how many involved criminal convictions versus other reasons, such as foreign policy decisions or visa-rule violations. (The Guardian)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that a number of foreign nationals could be deported on foreign policy grounds. Those cases included a Cuban national linked to an influence campaign tied to Havana, Iranian nationals connected to Tehran's government, and a Kuwaiti national accused of voicing hostility toward the US president. (The Guardian)

Some cancellations drew attention because they involved political activity. Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University, had her visa pulled after co-writing an opinion piece criticizing the university's stance on the war in Gaza. She has since returned to Turkey. The State Department also said it cancelled the visas of several foreign nationals who commented on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September 2025, including one person who said Kirk had "died too late." (The Guardian)

A US embassy in North Africa cancelled more than 100 visas held by parents accused of traveling to the US mainly so their children would be born as American citizens. The State Department also cited the case of Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national deported last month after being pardoned weeks earlier by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over a 2005 conviction for sexually abusing a child. (The Guardian)

The Department of Homeland Security reported separately that more than 605,000 people have been removed from the country since Trump took office. (The Guardian)

The broader policy extends beyond individual cancellations. Effective January 21, 2026, the State Department paused all new visa issuances to immigrant visa applicants from countries identified as high risk for relying on public benefits. A separate proclamation suspending visa issuance specified that no visas issued before January 1, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. EST would be revoked under its authority. That means the suspension of new visas and the cancellation of existing ones operate on two separate tracks. (travel.state.gov; travel.state.gov)

The State Department has also used visa restrictions as a diplomatic tool. In February 2026, it imposed visa restrictions on three Chilean government officials accused of knowingly undermining regional security. On January 25, 2026, the department announced steps to restrict and revoke the visas of two Transitional Presidential Council members in Haiti for supporting gangs. (state.gov; state.gov)

Think of the old system like a passport check at the border: you get approved, and once you are in, the government mostly reacts if you get into trouble. The new continuous vetting system is more like a credit card company that monitors your account in real time, constantly scanning for suspicious activity even when nothing appears wrong. With 55 million visa holders under ongoing screening, the government is checking for problems after visas are already granted.

The bigger question is where this leads. The fast-growing monthly pace, combined with the department's refusal to break down the cancellations by category, makes it hard to know how many of the 175,000 cases involve serious crimes versus speech or foreign policy decisions. That lack of detail will likely fuel debate over where law enforcement ends and ideological screening begins, especially as cases like Öztürk's and the Kirk-comment cancellations test what kinds of conduct can cost a foreign national their legal status in the United States.