The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners seeking asylum status in the US. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in the country's history.
State Department to Announce Revocations
Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce the revocation of B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking it, according to State Department documents and two US officials. The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said: "We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the non-immigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently."
He declined to comment on the number of visas which might be revoked, saying that as the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and would be done on a rolling basis. Officials said the revocations would not necessarily result in immediate deportations.
Recategorisation of Asylum Seekers
Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorised but would lose their status as business or tourism travellers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Since Mr Trump took office for his second term, his administration has steadily ramped up restrictions on visa applicants. This includes demanding more information about their social media histories; requiring the posting of expensive bonds for the processing of visas and banning the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries.
In a social media post on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called out people who he said try to use tourist and business visas to get into the United States and then apply for asylum. He wrote on X: "People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims. Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law".
Background and Potential Challenges
Mr Landau cited the case of a Colombian citizen who arrived in the US in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum. B1 visas are generally issued for business trips and B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care.
It was not immediately clear from the documents or the officials how many visa holders are seeking or have sought asylum in the US and would be affected by the revocations. Current applicants for B1 and B2 visas are asked to affirm they will not apply for asylum in the United States and show they intend to return to their home countries.
In the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked about 175,000 visas for people who have been convicted or accused of crimes ranging from drunken driving to rape and robbery. Officials have also revoked visas for people who have spoken out publicly against Mr Trump's policies, particularly on the Middle East. The administration has also moved to crack down on so-called birth tourism, a practice the administration claims is used by foreign pregnant women to come to the United States to give birth so that their child will benefit from birth-right citizenship. Mr Trump has tried several times to end birth-right citizenship, but his challenges have been rejected by courts, including the Supreme Court. The plan to revoke business and tourism visas for foreigners seeking asylum is likely to face legal challenges too.
