United States revokes 85,000 visas cites public-safety concerns

The United States has swept aside 85,000 visas across categories in 2025, a senior state department official revealed, casting the move as part of a broadened campaign to safeguard American communities and uphold the country’s public-safety standards.

“We’ve revoked 85,000 visas of all categories — including more than 8,000 belonging to students — more than double last year’s number,” the official said. The reasons, they noted, were as troubling as they were clear: DUIs, assaults, and theft, offences that together made up nearly half of all revocations.

“These are individuals who pose a direct threat to the safety of our communities, and we do not want them in our country,” the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The administration’s approach, the official stressed, is guided by an uncompromising vigilance, with particular scrutiny reserved for applicants from high-risk regions. On Afghanistan, the official pointed to persistent security concerns following the 2021 withdrawal: “This administration has always been mindful of the security environment there and of ensuring that we can properly vet and validate that visa applicants will not be a threat.”

Security checks, they insisted, will not be hurried. “We will take as much time as it takes, and we will not issue a visa until we are certain the applicant poses no threat to Americans’ safety and security.”

The official was also asked whether foreign nationals involved in fact-checking or content-moderation work — be it through social-media firms or civil-society organisations — could find themselves at risk under the Trump administration’s newly minted visa policies.

“Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of American identity,” the official said. “The Trump Administration is protecting Americans from foreigners who seek to censor them. That is why Secretary Rubio introduced, in May, a visa restriction targeting foreign nationals who engage in such censorship.”

Still, the official stressed that visa decisions are never reduced to a single yardstick.

“Consular officers examine the totality of an applicant’s circumstances,” they said. “Eligibility for a US visa is always determined case by case.”

The heightened vigilance comes as Washington continues to recalibrate its immigration and vetting architecture in the aftermath of the Afghanistan withdrawal — a moment that set tens of thousands in search of resettlement and special visas. US officials have repeatedly emphasised that every Afghan applicant must pass through multiple layers of security checks, a process arduous in duration but deemed indispensable to national security.

Historically, America’s visa and immigration policies have shifted with the tides of global events and changing administrations. While visa revocations for criminal misconduct are routine, the extraordinary scale of this year’s actions — 85,000 in total — highlights Washington’s sharpened focus on public safety and its sweeping effort to reinforce the protective walls around its borders.

With IANS inputs