The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials. If the move takes place, it would stand as the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.
Unless the plan is challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce the revocations in the coming weeks. The action would cover so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, the documents and officials indicated. The effort is set to proceed in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
“We are coordinating with DHS 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 said. He declined to comment on the exact number of visas that might be revoked, saying “as the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis.”
Officials describe the expected effects and ongoing restrictions
The revocations would not necessarily result in immediate deportation, the officials said. Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet.
Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year, his administration has steadily increased restrictions on visa applicants. These steps have included demands for more information about applicants’ social media histories, requirements for the posting of expensive bonds to process visas, and outright bans on issuing visas to citizens of certain countries. Other recent fee measures on work visas have also drawn court scrutiny after a federal judge struck down H-1B fee.
In a social media post on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau addressed people who he said try to use tourist and business visas to enter the United States and then apply for asylum. “People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau wrote on X.
“Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law.” He cited the case of a Colombian citizen who came to the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum. Similar issues with repeated filings have appeared in cases where an immigration lawyer copied asylum stories.
B1 visas are generally issued for business trips, while B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits, or medical care. It was not immediately clear from the documents or the officials how many of these visa holders are seeking or have sought asylum in the United States and would be affected by the planned revocations.
Current applicants for B1 and B2 visas are asked to affirm that they will not apply for asylum in the United States and to prove that they intend to return to their home countries. In the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked about 175,000 visas for people who have been convicted or accused of crimes ranging from drunken driving to rape and robbery, as well as for people who have spoken out publicly against U.S. policies, particularly in the Middle East.
The administration has also moved to address so-called birth tourism, a practice the administration claims is used by foreign pregnant women to come to the United States to give birth so that their child will benefit from birthright citizenship. Trump has tried several times to end birthright citizenship, but those challenges have been rejected by courts, including the Supreme Court.
The State Department documents obtained by the AP suggest that screening of current B1 and B2 visa holders began after the department received information about asylum requests from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Published: Aug 25, 2026 08:45 am