The State Department confirmed on November 6 that nearly 80,000 non-immigrant visas have been cancelled since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. According to senior officials, consular posts were instructed to review visa holders’ criminal records, overstay data and social-media activity and to revoke any visa that presented a “public-safety or foreign-policy concern.” DUI convictions (16,000 revocations), assault (12,000) and theft (8,000) topped the list, but thousands of students also lost visas for overstays or for posts deemed sympathetic to Hamas during the Gaza conflict.
The programme goes far beyond routine visa-status reviews. Consular managers tell Reuters that officers now run continuous vetting against criminal and intelligence databases, and must submit weekly tallies of social-media-based refusals. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly defended cancelling visas of foreign students who joined pro-Palestinian protests, calling such activity “hostile to U.S. interests.” The administration says the policy protects public safety and prevents espionage; critics see a broad attack on legal immigration and free speech.
![U.S. revokes 80,000 non-immigrant visas in sweeping 2025 crackdown]()
For employers, the numbers are unsettling. Roughly 60 % of the revocations were B-1/B-2 business-visitor visas, forcing affected travellers to re-apply under far tougher scrutiny. Universities and research labs report dozens of postgraduate researchers forced to leave mid-project. Global mobility managers should prepare for increased RFEs, secondary inspection delays and sudden travel-ban notifications. Advisers recommend real-time I-94 monitoring and proactive replacement strategies (e.g., switching H-1B workers to ESTA when possible) to limit project disruption.
Longer term, immigration lawyers expect litigation challenging the constitutionality of revocation based on speech alone, but warn companies that judicial relief could take years. Until then, routine travel for large swaths of legitimate visitors will remain precarious, reshaping how multinationals plan everything from conferences to maintenance visits.
The programme goes far beyond routine visa-status reviews. Consular managers tell Reuters that officers now run continuous vetting against criminal and intelligence databases, and must submit weekly tallies of social-media-based refusals. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly defended cancelling visas of foreign students who joined pro-Palestinian protests, calling such activity “hostile to U.S. interests.” The administration says the policy protects public safety and prevents espionage; critics see a broad attack on legal immigration and free speech.
For employers, the numbers are unsettling. Roughly 60 % of the revocations were B-1/B-2 business-visitor visas, forcing affected travellers to re-apply under far tougher scrutiny. Universities and research labs report dozens of postgraduate researchers forced to leave mid-project. Global mobility managers should prepare for increased RFEs, secondary inspection delays and sudden travel-ban notifications. Advisers recommend real-time I-94 monitoring and proactive replacement strategies (e.g., switching H-1B workers to ESTA when possible) to limit project disruption.
Longer term, immigration lawyers expect litigation challenging the constitutionality of revocation based on speech alone, but warn companies that judicial relief could take years. Until then, routine travel for large swaths of legitimate visitors will remain precarious, reshaping how multinationals plan everything from conferences to maintenance visits.
