The Trump administration plans to review the status of all 55 million foreign nationals in the U.S. with a valid travel visa to root out “security threats” and anyone “supporting terrorists.”
Marco Rubio’s State Department said in a statement that it intends to commence a process of “continuous vetting” and revoke the visas of anyone it deems guilty of potential ineligibility.
“Things like any indicators of overstays, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organization” would provide grounds for the removal of visas and deportation, the statement said.
“We review all available information as part of our vetting, including law enforcement or immigration records or any other information that comes to light after visa issuance.”
The statement added: “As part of the Trump administration’s commitment to protect U.S. national security and public safety, since Inauguration Day the State Department has revoked more than twice as many visas, including nearly four times as many student visas, as during the same time period last year.”
The policy is being undertaken as part of the administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants, which has been extended to include reviews of legal migrants, including people in the country on student, work, or tourist visas.
According to The Washington Post, the Biden-era State Department issued approximately 11 million temporary visas in 2024 (distinct from permanent visas or “green cards”), around 77 percent of which were for professional purposes or tourism and another 7 percent handed to foreign students.
“We are gathering more information than ever,” a senior State Department official told the Post, insisting they were not dismayed by the thought of the additional workload the new directive was likely to create.
“Time is not my concern; the security of Americans is.”
Immigration experts have already sounded the alarm, with David J Bier of the Cato Institute think-tank warning that the administration may be about to“proactively conduct reviews of social media posts and revoke visas based not on conduct but speech.”
“I doubt that’s feasible for everyone, but I suspect that these reviews will be done in a discriminatory manner targeting immigrants with certain backgrounds and in certain visa categories or specific people they want an excuse to revoke,” he said.
ICE announced last week it would be vetting visa applicants for association with “anti-American or terrorist” groups or others that “support or promote antisemitic terrorism.”
Students have become a particular focus for administration scrutiny in the first half-year of Trump’s second term, with foreign nationals taking part in campus protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza closely watched for evidence of antisemitism or statements of support for Hamas or Hezbollah.
Secretary Rubio moved on Thursday to stop offering worker visas for foreign commercial truck drivers.
“Effective immediately we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers,” he wrote on X.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers.”
Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the Associated Press that foreign workers had helped address a significant labor shortage in the long-haul trucking sector.
“This action should be seen as part of a concerted effort by the administration to discourage American companies and other institutions like universities and hospitals from hiring and retaining foreign workers,” he said.
“The goal here is not to target specific classes of workers, but to send the message to American employers that they are at risk if they are employing foreign workers. The economic consequences will be far larger than just visas being stripped from foreign workers in a few job categories.”
