The State Department is expected to announce within weeks a sweeping action that would strip the entry documents of as many as 200,000 individuals who entered the U.S. on short-stay visas and later pursued asylum, according to internal records reviewed by The Associated Press and two American officials. If carried out, it would mark the most extensive visa cancellation effort ever undertaken by the U.S. government, and legal experts anticipate immediate court battles.
Documents show the State Department, working alongside the Department of Homeland Security, is targeting B1 and B2 nonimmigrant visas issued over the past decade — from 2016 through 2026 — where the holders either have already submitted asylum applications or are in the process of doing so. B1 visas cover business travel, while B2 visas apply to tourism, visits with relatives, or medical treatment.
Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesperson, confirmed that his agency is partnering with DHS to locate and cancel the visas of foreigners who entered as temporary visitors but later sought permanent status through asylum. He would not confirm the exact scale of the cancellations, explaining that the effort is fluid and will proceed in phases.
Officials stressed that losing a visa does not automatically trigger removal from the country. For many whose asylum cases are still unresolved, the change would simply reclassify their immigration status, stripping them of the business or tourist designation they previously held. The officials requested anonymity because the plan has not been finalized.
On Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau took to social media to denounce travelers who, in his words, exploit visitor visas as a backdoor to asylum. He said public frustration with fraudulent asylum claims is widespread both domestically and abroad, arguing that the system was never designed to serve as an immigration loophole. Landau pointed to a Colombian national who entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2015 and subsequently filed for asylum as an example of the problem.
Since returning to the White House last year, President Donald Trump's administration has intensified scrutiny of visa applicants across the board. Measures have included deeper probes into social media activity, mandatory posting of substantial bonds for visa processing, and blanket prohibitions on issuing visas to nationals from specific countries.
Over the last year and a half, the State Department has already cancelled roughly 175,000 visas. Those revocations targeted individuals either convicted or accused of offenses ranging from DUIs to sexual assault and theft, as well as people who have publicly criticized U.S. foreign policy, especially in the Middle East.
The administration has also targeted "birth tourism," a term it uses for pregnant foreign nationals who travel to the U.S. specifically to deliver babies and secure automatic citizenship for their children. Trump has repeatedly attempted to end birthright citizenship, but federal courts — including the Supreme Court — have blocked those efforts.
According to the AP-obtained records, the review of existing B1 and B2 visa holders was triggered after the State Department received asylum-related data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. New applicants for these visa categories are now required to certify that they will not seek asylum while in the U.S. and must demonstrate their intention to return to their country of origin.