The State Department announced the milestone in a social media post, vowing: “We will continue to deport these thugs to keep America safe.”
It said some 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialised visas had been revoked “for individuals who had encounters with US law enforcement for criminal activity”.
State department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the revocations marked a “new record” in the space of less than a year, and an 150% increase from 2024. He added that visas had been revoked for crimes including assault, theft and driving under the influence.
However, commentators have raised concerns that the revocations were based on names identified in a federal crime database, and many who were stripped of their visas have never been convicted or charged with a crime.
The State Department has also launched what it called a “Continuous Vetting Center” to “ensure that all foreign nationals on American soil comply with our laws – and that the visas of those who pose a threat to American citizens are swiftly revoked”, said Pigott.
The administration’s declaration explicitly highlighted the revocations impacting international students, who have been a central target of Trump’s broad anti-immigration crackdown, subject to visa terminations and deportations.
In a September ruling, a federal judge found the administration’s policy of arresting, detaining and deporting international students for their pro-Palestinian advocacy unconstitutional, saying the government had violated the First Amendment.
“The effect of these targeted deportation proceedings continues unconstitutionally to chill freedom of speech to this day,” said Judge William G Young.
In November 2025, the State Department made a similar announcement of its cancellation of 80,000 visas – 8,000 of which were those of international students, the agency told The PIE News, implying there have been nominal revocations in recent months.
Not only has the administration been revoking visas, it has also made it harder to obtain a visa, implementing heightened social media vetting, alongside a travel ban barring nationals from some 40 countries from studying in the US.
Few visa routes have been spared scrutiny from the administration, which hiked the H-1B visa fee for certain petitions to $100,000 and overhauled the visa selection process in favour of higher earners.
