As part of President continued restrictions on visa applicants, the US government is now planning to revoke business and tourism visas of around 200,000 individuals who have either applied for or are at the moment seeking asylum status in the country, as per a report by the Associated Press.
If this move materialises, it will be the largest mass revocation of visas in the history of the United States. The move can also face legal challenges.
The announcement will be made by the State Department in the coming weeks unless the same is revised or challenged.
The State Department is expected to revoke that have been issued in the period of 2016 to 2026 to people who have sought asylum or are currently seeking one, the news agency reported citing documents it accessed and two officials familiar with the matter.
“We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant 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,” Tommy Piggot, spokesperson of the , said on the matter, as per AP.
However, Pigott did not reveal the number of visas the State Department is targetting, since the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis.”
Will the revocations lead to immediate deportation?
The revocations would not immediately lead to deportation, the officials told AP. Most asylum cases currently pending approval would be recategorised once the revocations are announced, and these individuals would end up losing their status as tourism or business travellers, the officials said.
Christopher Landau, the Deputy Secretary of State, in a social media post on Monday called out individuals who, as per his claims, are using either business or tourist visas to enter the US, following which they apply for asylum.
“People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau said on social media platform X, adding, “Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law.”
Applicants for B1 visas, which are issued for business trips, and for B2 visas, which are issued for tourists, are now being asked to confirm that they would not be seeking asylum in the country, and have to prove that they intend to return to their home countries.
Around 175,000 visas have been revoked by the US administration in the last 18 months. These were of people who were either convicted, or have been accused of crimes in the US. These crimes range from anything like drunker driving to much more serious charges like rape and robbery. Visas of those who have been publicly vocal against US policies (mainly pertaining to its actions in the Middle East), have also had the same fate.
