Up to 200,000 Foreigners Face Largest Visa Revocation in U.S. History

The U.S. government is currently considering the mass revocation of B1 and B2 visas issued to foreigners who applied for international protection. Consequently, the measure would affect approximately 200,000 people who entered the country under temporary visitor status.

In this context, authorities are coordinating the strategy with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Likewise, the plan seeks to nullify visas issued between 2016 and 2026.

If this administrative initiative is implemented, it would become the largest mass cancellation of entry permits ever recorded in the country. For their part, civil society representatives anticipate that the measure will face immediate legal challenges in federal courts.

Program Criteria	Current Situation	Proposed Change
Affected Population	People with B1/B2 visa who request asylum	Cancellation of tourist/business visa
Direct Impact	Maintenance of previous entry permit	Reclassification of immigration status
Temporal Scope	Visas issued between 2016 and 2026	Ongoing application to new cases

What are the implications of losing a visa for undocumented individuals?

On the one hand, authorities clarified that the cancellation of the document will not generate automatic deportations in the short term for those affected. Consequently, people with pending protection applications will maintain their cases before the justice system.

However, visa holders will formally lose the business or tourism visitor category they held upon entry. In this way, the measure seeks to prevent foreigners from using temporary entries as a mechanism to remain indefinitely.

In this regard, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that the final number of cancellations will remain dynamic while the process continues to be active. Indeed, the administration will review databases in direct coordination with other federal agencies.

How are authorities justifying the new immigration restriction?

Simultaneously, administration representatives point to the need to stop the misuse of short-term travel authorizations. In this sense, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau rejected the use of tourist permits to evade regular channels.

Additionally, authorities note that protection applications filed after entry with a visa represent an administrative irregularity. For this reason, the government tightened requirements prior to issuing new visas for international travelers.

Effectively, in the last 18 months, authorities canceled approximately 175,000 entry permits for various procedural reasons. For example, causes included convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol, felonies, and administrative violations.

Reason for Cancellation	Number of Cases	Execution Period
Criminal Charges or Convictions	175,000 people	Last 18 months