US revokes 85,000 visas over public-safety concerns

The US has revoked 85,000 visas this year across multiple categories, including over 8,000 student visas, citing DUIs, assaults and theft as key reasons. Officials said stricter vetting will continue, especially for applicants from high-risk environments such as Afghanistan.

Washington: The United States has revoked 85,000 visas across multiple categories this year, a senior State Department official said, describing the action as part of an intensified effort to protect American communities and enforce public-safety standards.

“We’ve revoked 85,000 visas of all categories, including more than 8,000 students, which is more than double the numbers the year before,” said a State Department official in response to a question.

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“Some of the top reasons why we revoked the visas were DUIs, assaults, and theft, which together account for almost half of the revocations in the past year. These are people who pose a direct threat to our communities’ safety, and we do not want to have them in our country,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said the administration’s visa-vetting posture remains stringent, particularly for applicants from high-risk environments. On Afghanistan, the official said: “I think this administration has always had concerns with the security in Afghanistan [following the withdrawal] and making sure that we can appropriately vet and validate that visa applicants won’t be a threat.”

Reiterating that security checks will not be rushed, the official added: “We will take as much time as it takes, and we will not issue a visa until we are sure the applicant does not pose a threat to Americans’ safety and security.”

The official was also asked whether participating in fact-checking or content-moderation efforts — including work for social-media or civil-society organizations — could be grounds for a visa denial under the Trump administration’s recently established policies.

“Freedom of speech is a fundamental American value, and the Trump Administration is defending Americans from foreigners who wish to censor them,” the official said. “That’s why Secretary Rubio instituted in May a visa restriction targeting foreign nationals who censor Americans.”

But the official added that such cases are not assessed on a single criterion.

“When determining whether an applicant qualifies for a visa, consular officers look not just at one single factor, but at the totality of an individual’s circumstances, then they make a case-by-case determination regarding eligibility for a US visa,” said the official.

The heightened scrutiny comes at a time when the US continues to refine its immigration and vetting procedures following the 2021 military withdrawal from Afghanistan, which left thousands seeking resettlement or visas through special US programs. American officials have repeatedly stressed that all Afghan applicants must clear multilayered security checks — a process that has led to long delays but remains central to US national security policy.

The United States has historically adjusted visa and immigration policies in response to shifts in global security conditions, including after major geopolitical events or changes in administration. Visa revocations for criminal conduct are not uncommon, but large-scale actions — such as the 85,000 figure cited this year — underscore Washington’s ongoing emphasis on public safety and homeland-security risk assessments across all visa categories.