The Trump administration is preparing a sweeping immigration measure that could result in the revocation of business and tourist visas held by as many as 200,000 foreign nationals. The plan targets people who received B-1 or B-2 nonimmigrant visas for business or tourism, entered the United States and subsequently applied or are currently applying for asylum. If implemented on the scale being considered, it would represent the largest single mass visa revocation in US history. The State Department is working with the Department of Homeland Security on the measure, and the cancellations are expected to take place on a rolling basis rather than simultaneously. Administration officials view asylum applications filed after entry on temporary business or tourist visas as potentially inconsistent with the original purpose for which those visas were issued. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has argued that the immigration system is being burdened by large numbers of questionable or frivolous asylum claims and that the government wants to prevent temporary visas from being used as a route to prolonged residence in the country.
Visa revocation, however, would not automatically mean immediate deportation. Some of those affected may already have pending asylum proceedings or another immigration status, meaning the consequences would depend on each person’s individual circumstances. That legal complexity is one reason the policy is expected to face court challenges if it moves forward. The proposal forms part of a much broader tightening of US immigration and visa policy. The administration has expanded screening of visa applicants, including scrutiny of online activity, introduced additional financial and administrative requirements for certain categories and significantly increased visa cancellations. US authorities say more than 175,000 visas have already been revoked for various reasons over roughly the past 18 months. The latest proposal is different in both scale and principle because it could subject an enormous group of people to visa cancellation because they subsequently sought asylum. Immigration and civil-rights organisations are likely to challenge that approach, while the administration argues that stronger action is necessary to prevent abuse of the system. The dispute therefore extends beyond the fate of as many as 200,000 visas and raises a much broader question over whether seeking asylum after legally entering the United States should provide grounds for cancelling the temporary visa originally used to enter the country.
