As many as 200,000 foreigners who came to the United States, promising to leave again, instead decided they wanted to stay.
Now their short-term visas are expected to be revoked.
It won’t mean immediate deportation for many, but they will have lost their status under their original business or tourism visas, authorities confirmed.
“We are coordinating 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,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott confirmed.
Those affected hold B1 or B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2016 – and the program is aimed at those who now are seeking asylum.
FOX NEWS: This would potentially be the biggest mass visa revocation in United States history. pic.twitter.com/tomj1UOpKT
— Department of State (@StateDept) August 25, 2026
Set to revoke up to TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND visas 🔥 pic.twitter.com/K0mnxpXvla
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2026
A report from the Dail Signal explained there will be announcements about the revocations in coming weeks.
“As the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis,” Pigott explained.
It’s the latest move in the work by the Trump administration to curb illegal immigration. He’s worked to close the border, remove Temporary Protected Status for a number of groups, and arrested and deport illegal alien criminals already inside the U.S.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said on X that people are “fed up with bogus asylum claims.”
“Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their ‘race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion,’” he wrote.
The plan, if it proceeds as planned, would be the largest mass visa revocation in the nation’s history.
Business travelers routinely use B1 visas to be in the U.S. temporarily, while B2 designates tourism, family visits or medical trips.
