by Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters
The US State Department has revoked more than 175,000 visas from foreign nationals under President Donald Trump, as it continues a sweeping immigration crackdown that has stripped travel and immigration privileges from tens of thousands more people.
Most of the visa revocations stemmed from law-enforcement encounters involving criminal activity, alongside visa violations, fraud, calls for violence and other threats to national security, according to a fact sheet released by the department on Monday.
The extent of the revocations reflects the broad immigration crackdown initiated when Trump returned to the White House last year, deporting an unprecedented number of migrants including some who held valid visas.
“The revocations come as 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 department said.
Assault, driving under the influence, theft and drug offences were among the leading reasons for the cancellations.
Specific cases cited by the department included a person charged with felony rape and sexual battery, another charged with kidnapping and human trafficking, and a person facing more than a dozen counts of possessing child sexual abuse material.
A US embassy in North Africa revoked more than 100 visas from “birth tourist” parents who allegedly came to the United States primarily to give birth so their children would receive US citizenship, it said.
Some of the revocations involved “foreign nationals who celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk, including one who stated ‘when fascists die, democrats don’t complain’ and another who said he ‘died too late’,” the statement said. Kirk was a popular conservative activist who was assassinated last year.
The department said the Trump administration would continue identifying and investigating foreign nationals who it believes threaten US safety or national security.
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“A US visa is a privilege, not a right,” the State Department said, adding that it would continue using available authorities to revoke visas from people who abuse that privilege.
In January, the department said it had revoked more than 100,000 visas, a record at the time.
The administration has also adopted a stricter policy on granting visas, with tightened social media vetting and expanded screening.
Rights advocates and human rights experts have condemned the Trump administration’s social media screening efforts, which they say threaten free speech and are akin to surveillance and singling out of immigrants.
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