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The Trump administration said it has rescinded tens of thousands of nonimmigrant visas since January, pointing to criminal activity as the primary reason.
The State Department announced on Thursday that 80,000 visas have been revoked this year, noting that this is more than twice the number revoked last year.
More than 8,000 student visas were among those impacted.
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The top reasons for these revocations were assault, theft, and driving under the influence, according to the State Department. These three crimes accounted for nearly half of the revoked visas this year.
The agency said it pulled more than 16,000 visas for DUIs, more than 12,000 for assault and more than 8,000 for theft.
“Promises made, promises kept,” the State Department wrote on X, adding that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “will always put the safety and interests of the American people first.”
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The State Department may revoke a visa for reasons such as indicators of an overstay, criminal activity, a threat to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity or providing support to a terrorist organization.
The administration has broadly defined support for terrorism to include criticism of U.S. support for Israel and the Jewish State’s military action, as well as support for Palestinians. The federal government has previously used this as a justification to cancel visas.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, his administration has searched for online posts to target foreigners for the potential rescinding of their visas.
On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order to ensure visa holders “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”
Over the summer, the State Department said it would start asking applicants to make their social media accounts public for government monitoring and that interviews with applicants would determine who may pose a threat to national security.
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