The US State Department on Thursday warned that all 55 million foreigners holding valid US visas are subject to continuous vetting as President Donald Trump intensifies his immigration and visa crackdown.
A department official explained that visas may be revoked anytime there are signs of ineligibility, including overstays, criminal activity, security threats, or links to terrorism. While not all visas are under active investigation, the official stressed that the administration considered every valid visa “fair game.”
Particular focus has been placed on student visas, with officials confirming that visa holders are being closely monitored, including their activity on social media — now a mandatory part of the application process.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spearheaded the effort, using a little-known law to revoke visas of individuals deemed to act against US foreign policy, particularly those involved in anti-Israel protests. Since January, the Trump administration has revoked about 6,000 visas, four times more than the number revoked in the same period under Joe Biden’s administration.
Rubio has defended the actions, arguing that the US government has broad authority to issue or revoke visas without judicial review and that non-citizens are not entitled to US constitutional free speech protections.
However, the crackdown has faced judicial pushback in high-profile cases. In May, a judge freed Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, who had written a newspaper article critical of Israel. The following month, another judge freed Mahmoud Khalil, a US permanent resident and pro-Palestinian protest leader at Columbia University, ruling against his detention.
The escalated reviews underscore the administration’s broader immigration agenda, with critics warning that the measures target dissent and suppress free expression among foreign nationals.
