The Trump administration is preparing to revoke visitor visas for foreign nationals who entered the United States on temporary business or tourist visas and later filed for asylum, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
The move, attributed to State Department documents and two U.S. officials cited by the AP, could initially affect more than 200,000 foreign nationals. Officials said the effort would focus on B-1 and B-2 visas issued over the past decade to people who have sought or are seeking asylum in the United States.
A rolling review of visitor visas
State Department spokesman Thomas Pigott told the AP that the department is working with the Department of Homeland Security “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.”
Pigott did not provide a final number of affected visas. He said the process would be ongoing and that revocations would happen on a rolling basis.
A U.S. official told the AP that people whose visas are revoked would lose their status as tourism or business travelers, though revocation would not necessarily mean immediate deportation.
Administration frames asylum filings as misuse of visitor status
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau criticized what he described as misuse of the asylum system in a Monday statement.
“People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau said.
Landau said asylum is not meant to be “a loophole to circumvent immigration laws,” but rather a narrow protection for people persecuted because of “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”
He also argued that frivolous claims have burdened the system, saying cases can take years to resolve while applicants may work, have children, and build lives in the United States.
What B-1 and B-2 visas are meant for
B-1 visas are intended for short-term business activities, such as commercial negotiations or conferences, and not for employment in the United States.
B-2 visas are intended for tourism, family visits, medical treatment, or vacations.
According to the source material, fiscal year 2024 saw more than 6.49 million B-1/B-2 “Temporary Visitor for Business and Pleasure” visas issued, along with 31,544 B-1 business visitor visas, 1.91 million combination B-1/B-2 and border crossing cards, and 12,072 B-2 pleasure visitor visas.
Supporters call it enforcement of existing rules
Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Blaze News the planned revocations amount to “good housekeeping.”
Hankinson argued that foreign nationals who seek asylum after entering on temporary visas are no longer doing what they represented they would do when they applied for the visa.
“We encourage tourists, business people, students, athletes, and all kinds of others to come here for a temporary period … but there are rules,” Hankinson told Blaze News. “Visitors are not supposed to break our laws or overstay their welcome.”
He also said visa applicants must show ties to their home country indicating they will return, which he described as the opposite of what someone would seek to prove in an asylum claim.
What happens next is not automatic deportation
The reported policy does not mean every affected person would be immediately removed from the country. People who have already been granted asylum may continue toward permanent residency and citizenship, according to Hankinson’s comments cited in the source material.
However, if an asylum claim is denied, the person may be subject to deportation. Hankinson said that, in such cases, the person would likely face serious barriers to qualifying for another visa.
The Department of Homeland Security referred Blaze News to the State Department for comment. The State Department did not immediately respond to Blaze News, according to the source material.
