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The United States is preparing to revoke business and tourist visas from up to 200,000 people who have applied for asylum in the United States. If carried out, it would be the largest visa revocation in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.
The State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026, whose holders have applied for asylum, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two federal officials. The measure will be adopted in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
“We are coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security to identify and revoke the non-immigrant visas of foreign nationals who have arrived in the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then apply for asylum to stay here permanently,” said State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
Pigott declined to comment on how many visas could be revoked and noted that “as the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be carried out gradually”.
Officials indicated that the revocations would not necessarily lead to immediate deportation. Most of those with pending asylum cases would be reclassified, but they would lose their status as business or tourist travelers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not yet final.
The U.S. government has steadily increased restrictions for visa applicants since President Donald Trump began his second term last year: requiring more information about their social media history, requiring the payment of costly bonds for visa processing, and outright banning the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau criticized in a social media post on Monday people who, he said, attempt to use tourist and business visas to enter the United States and then apply for asylum.
“People in the United States and around the world are fed up with fake asylum claims,” Landau wrote on X. “Asylum should not be a loophole to circumvent immigration law.” Landau cited the case of a Colombian citizen who arrived in the United States in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum.
What are B1 and B2 visas? Who applies for them?
B1 visas are generally issued for business travel and B2 visas are normally issued for tourism, family visits, or medical care. It was not immediately clear how many of these visa holders are currently applying or have applied for asylum in the United States and would be affected by the revocations.
Current B1 and B2 visa applicants are asked to confirm that they will not apply for asylum in the United States and to demonstrate that they intend to return to their home countries.
Over the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked about 175,000 visas for individuals who have been convicted or accused of crimes ranging from driving under the influence to rape and robbery, as well as individuals who have spoken out publicly against U.S. policies, particularly in the Middle East.
The United States has also taken steps to tighten control against so-called “birth tourism,” a practice that it claims is used by pregnant foreign women to travel to the United States to give birth so that their child obtains U.S. citizenship by birth. Trump has tried several times to end birthright citizenship, but those attempts have been rejected by the courts, including the Supreme Court.
[Publicidad]