Over 250,000 Visas Revoked During Trump’s Second Term – The Epoch Times

The U.S. Department of State in Washington on March 28, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The State Department said on Oct. 1 that it has revoked more than 250,000 visas since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told The Epoch Times by email that the visas were revoked because of violations or other conduct by the holders, including criminal activity, public safety concerns, immigration violations, fraud or misrepresentation, or other information indicating that they were no longer eligible for a visa.

“Every visa decision is a national security decision. Through continuous vetting on a scale never seen before, we are identifying and removing those who commit crimes, support terrorism, defraud Americans, or abuse our immigration system,” Pigott said.

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“A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right—and if you violate the terms of that privilege, you will lose it.”

On Sept. 28, Pigott said the department imposed visa restrictions on 27 officials from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru over allegations of corruption and ties to drug-trafficking activities.

The officials included Bolivia’s Attorney General Roger Mariaca, whom the department accused of soliciting and accepting bribes to enable drug-trafficking and helping violent criminals evade punishment.

The restrictions also applied to those people’s family members.

Pigott said the visa limits were imposed under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the government to bar a person’s entry into the country if the Secretary of State determines the person’s presence would have potentially serious negative consequences.

“This is a durable mechanism that allows the United States to act quickly, in coordination with our partners, as evidence develops,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The Trump administration has intensified enforcement against illegal immigration and tightened the country’s vetting procedures for foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sept. 28 that the United States will restrict visas for people who obstruct the return of children abducted abroad by a parent, as well as those people’s immediate family members.

Rubio said the new policy was intended to streamline cases that have dragged on in foreign courts and government offices and “gives the department a new accountability tool to press non-compliant countries to meet their obligations.”

In June, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division issued a memo directing federal prosecutors to prioritize investigations into birth tourism schemes.

The move came after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants.

Trump’s order on birthright citizenship, issued on Jan. 20, 2025, said the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause does not extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.

Kimberly Hayek contributed to this report.