The Trump administration said Monday it has revoked more than 175,000 visas from foreign nationals this year, a significant increase from 2025 as the State Department expands what it calls “continuous vetting” of visa holders.
Most of the visas were canceled following “law enforcement encounters,” according to the State Department, including cases involving assault, driving under the influence, theft and drug crimes.
The reliance on law enforcement encounters has raised concerns among some immigration lawyers that visas could be revoked over minor incidents or charges that have not gone through the judicial process.
The pace of revocations has increased sharply this year. More than 10,000 visas per month have been canceled in 2026, compared with more than 8,000 over the course of 2025. The Trump administration announced in January that it had revoked more than 100,000 visas during the previous year.
The administration said the revocations are “a result of the State Department’s continuous vetting operations, which ensure that visa recipients abide by the terms of their visa and do not endanger Americans.”
“The majority of these visas were revoked due to law enforcement encounters for a range of criminal activity, with assault, driving under the influence, theft, and drug crimes being the leading causes,” the State Department said. “A significant share of visas were revoked for reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud and embezzlement, and other crimes.”
The department also pointed to several higher-profile cases, including foreign nationals whose visas were revoked after they celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the prominent right-wing political activist who was killed in September 2025.
According to the State Department, one individual said “when fascists die, democrats don’t complain,” while another said Kirk “died too late.”
Other cases involved foreign nationals removed from the country on what the State Department described as “foreign policy grounds.”
Among them was Tou Lue Vang, a 42-year-old father of six who was deported to Laos last month by the Department of Homeland Security. Vang had received a pardon from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz several weeks earlier for a 2005 conviction for sexually abusing a child. The State Department said Vang was deported on “foreign policy grounds.”
The department said others removed on those grounds included Cuban nationals with ties to the communist regime and Iranians in the United States with ties to the Iranian regime.
Officials also cited the case of a Kuwaiti national who “wished for violence against” the president and the United States and called Americans his “enemy.”
Other visa revocations and deportation determinations cited by the department involved foreign nationals arrested or charged with sexual assault or sexual abuse, including cases involving minors, as well as kidnapping and human trafficking. The State Department also listed cases involving driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and allegations of fraud.
The administration has also targeted what it calls “birth tourism.”
The State Department said a U.S. Embassy in North Africa revoked more than 100 visas from “birth tourist” parents who traveled to the United States primarily to give birth so their children would obtain U.S. citizenship.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio’s leadership, the State Department will continue to identify, investigate, and revoke the visas of foreign nationals who threaten the safety of the American people,” the department said.
