State Department to cancel tens of thousands of visas held by asylum seekers
The State Department is preparing to revoke tourist and business visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to foreign nationals who have sought or are actively seeking asylum.
The U.S. State Department has announced plans to revoke tens of thousands of tourist and business visas held by asylum seekers, who have applied for asylum in the country. This move comes under the leadership of former President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who have emphasized that a visa is a privilege, not a right.
The revocations are anticipated to occur gradually and could potentially affect up to 200,000 travel documents issued between 2016 and 2026. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that these visas were granted with the expectation that recipients would return home, and using a visa to apply for asylum constitutes fraud, which is grounds for revocation.
Internal estimates suggest that the process of revoking nonimmigrant visas from foreigners seeking asylum in the U.S. is ongoing, with officials familiar with the matter confirming the potential scale of the revocations. Applicants applying for tourist and business visas are required to confirm that they won't file for asylum and intend to return to their countries of origin.
Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau expressed the public's frustration with bogus asylum claims on social media, emphasizing that asylum isn't meant to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law. While it remains unclear whether any foreign nationals will be removed from the U.S. due to visa cancellations, in cases where visa holders have an active asylum application, the claim must first be adjudicated and denied before removal proceedings can proceed.
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