State Department Reports on Visas Revoked So Far This Term

The Trump administration has revoked more than 175,000 visas since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, according to the State Department, and officials say criminal conduct and violations of visa rules account for much of that enormous number.

“Under President Trump, the United States Department of State has revoked more than 175,000 visas from foreign nationals who violated the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against U.S. citizens, defrauded Americans, abused our immigration system, or endangered national security,” the department told Fox News on Monday.

The department said most of the revocations involved encounters with law enforcement, with assault, driving under the influence, theft and drug offenses among the leading causes.

Other cases involved reckless driving, sexual assault, child abuse, fraud, embezzlement and additional crimes, according to the department.

The sheer number illustrates just how aggressively the administration is using an authority Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly emphasized: A visa isn’t an entitlement.

Rubio made that point particularly clear during a February news conference in Hungary.

“I’ve said this repeatedly. I don’t know why it’s so hard for some to comprehend it, so let me repeat it again,” Rubio said. “A visa — no one is entitled to a visa. There is no constitutional right to a visa.”

Rubio described a visa as permission granted to a foreign national to enter the United States under particular conditions.

“If you enter our country as a visitor, as a visitor in our country — be it a student, a tourist, a journalist, whatever you want to be — and you undertake activities that are against the national interest, the national security of the United States, we will take away your visa,” he said.