The administration of US President Donald Trump has announced its plans to revoke non-immigrant visas for foreign nationals who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum in the United States, a move poised to be the largest single mass revocation in US history, according to experts. The US Department of State will revoke B-1 and B-2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 for holders who have previously sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, a move that could impact up to 200,000 individuals. This initiative is part of Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, intensified during his second term, marked by increased pressure on immigration enforcement and a focus on border security. The administration has also taken steps to limit the number of people entitled to ‘birthright citizenship,’ a constitutional right that grants automatic US citizenship to infants born in the country. A recently signed executive order, signed shortly after the start of his second term, directs the State Department to target ‘birth tourism’ and another order expanding categories of individuals ineligible for birthright citizenship. Rights groups have launched legal challenges to these executive orders, arguing they violate due process and free speech rights.
The move is linked to Trump’s broader anti-immigration agenda, including visa and green card revocations, aggressive deportation drives targeting migrant communities, and a military-style raid program. During a series of raids in Minneapolis in January 2025, protesters were killed by agents, further fueling concerns about civil liberties. The Trump administration has also tightened restrictions on visa applicants, suspending new visas to citizens of 75 countries. A federal judge recently struck down the policy, citing violations of federal immigration law. The State Department recently revoked more than 175,000 visas held by foreign nationals, primarily for alleged criminal activity, visa violations, fraud, calls for violence, or other actions deemed a threat to national security. The move is particularly targeting individuals who entered the US on business or tourist visas and later apply for asylum, though the extent of the impact remains uncertain.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau criticized the use of tourist and business visas as a means to circumvent immigration law. ‘People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,’ he wrote on X. The Trump administration has not published a detailed breakdown of the nationalities of those who have claimed asylum after entering on B-1 and B-2 visas, and this information isn’t publicly available. However, Bermejo Casado, a migration and asylum policy researcher at Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, notes that revocation of a non-immigrant visa isn’t the same as terminating an asylum claim. Individuals who enter on B-1 or B-2 visas and then file for asylum derive their current legal status from the ongoing asylum process, rather than from the original visa. The policy could trigger a legal dispute over whether the government is unfairly penalising individuals for exercising a right protected under US asylum law. Bermejo Casado emphasizes that establishing who the policy applies to will require extensive data matching between the State Department, Homeland Security, and immigration courts, something she describes as an ‘administrative burden.’
Bermejo Casado stressed that the actual impact will depend on the composition of the asylum applicants who originally entered on B-1 and B-2 visas. According to Homeland Security figures, the top nationalities for successful asylum claims in recent years include those from Central and South America, such as Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, as well as other parts of the world including China, Russia, Turkey, and Egypt. The Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has also reported an increase in applications from Haiti, India, Cuba, and Mexico.
The policy may also deter future asylum claims from individuals entering on tourist or business visas, potentially signaling a shift toward treating post-entry asylum claims as evidence of inconsistent use of temporary visas. Bermejo Casado stressed that the actual impact will depend on the composition of the asylum applicants who originally entered on B-1 and B-2 visas. ‘Some nationalities generate substantial asylum caseloads through irregular border crossings rather than through visa overstays or status changes,’ she said, highlighting that the policy may be more intended as a deterrent and political statement than a mechanism for immediate deportation.
Source: Al Jazeera
