State Department Plans to Revoke Visas of Visitors Seeking Asylum in US

The Trump administration is working to revoke the visas of foreign nationals who entered the United States as short-term visitors and then sought asylum.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on Aug. 24 that the department will work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the process but did not say how many visas would be revoked.

Pigott said in a statement that the revocation process will be ongoing and visas will be revoked on “a rolling basis.”

“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,” the spokesperson said.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the State Department for further details but did not receive a response by publication time.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in an Aug. 24 post that “people in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims.”

Landau emphasized that asylum is meant to provide safe harbor for individuals fleeing persecution based on race, religion, nationality, or political opinion.

“But the system has long been swamped by frivolous asylum claims, meaning that it takes years to adjudicate whether applicants are actually entitled to asylum—during which time they can typically work, have children, and otherwise put down roots in our country,” he said.

The Trump administration has intensified its crackdown on illegal immigration and tightened rules on visa applications. Earlier this month, the State Department said it will make permanent a visa bond program under which citizens from 50 countries are required to post bonds of up to $20,000 for business or tourist visas. The rule is intended to prevent visitors from overstaying their visits.

The department said on Aug. 10 that more than 175,000 visas of foreign nationals had been revoked since President Donald Trump began his second term in January last year.

The revocations targeted visa holders who violated their visa terms, committed crimes, called for violence against U.S. citizens, defrauded Americans, abused the immigration system, or posed national security risks.

“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 department said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.