All 55 Million US Visas Under Review For Violations

The Trump administration is continuing to crackdown on foreigners, who have valid US visas. The authorities have started to review the visas of more than 55 million people for any violations, which could lead to deportation.

The State Department, in a written answer to a question from the press, said all US visa holders, including tourists, are subject to ‘continuous vetting’, to see if they could be ineligible for entering and staying in the US. In case of any aberration, the visa will be revoked and if they are in the US, he/she would be deported.

From the day Donald Trump assumed office as the US President, he has been very serious about deporting migrants staying illegally in the US, apart from the holders of student and visitor exchange visas. The State Department have been working overtime to vet the visas, checking every minute detail of the approved visas, to see if they can be revoked, on finding any violation.

The officials said they were looking if people were staying past the authorized timeframe outlined in a visa, if the visa holder has any history of criminal background, threats to public safety or engaging in terrorist activity, or supporting any militant outfit.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, there were 12.8 million green card holders and 3.6 million people in the US on temporary visas last year. During the vetting, it was also found that a few of the total 55 million foreign visa holders in the US were staying outside the US with multiple-entry tourist visas, according to Julia Gelatt, associate director of the US immigration policy programme at the Migration Policy Institute. Quoting the figure of 55 million foreign visa holders in the US, Gelatt questioned the value of spending resources on people who may never return to the US.

In addition, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X: The US will stop issuing worker visas for commercial truck drivers. He said the change was effective immediately. “The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio posted. The officials tried to enforce the requirement that truckers speak and read English proficiently to improve road safety, as a few incidents of traffic deaths occurred due to the drivers’ inability to read or speak English. The DHS officials have been steadily imposing more restrictions and requirements on visa applicants, including attending in-person interviews, social media vetting, checking the law enforcement and immigration records in their home countries, violation of laws in the US during their stay there.

Since Trump has assumed charge, the State Department has revoked more than twice as many visas, including nearly four times as many student visas, as during the same time period last year. Over 6,000 student visas had been revoked for overstays and violations of the local, state and federal law, a majority of them involving assault, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and support for terrorism. The review of all the visas is an expansion of what had initially started as checking the visas of students who were involved in what the government perceived as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activity.