Student visas made up 10% of the administration’s overall cancellation of 80,000 non-immigrant visas during Donald Trump’s second term, a State Department official told The PIE News.
The top reasons for the overall revocations were assault, theft and driving under the influence (DUIs), which accounted for nearly half of all revocations this year, according to the agency.
“The State Department revokes a visa any time there is an indication of a potential ineligibility, which includes things like indicators of an overstay, criminal activity, a threat to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organisation,” said the spokesperson.
The 80,000 figure total is more than twice the number of US visas cancelled in 2024, reflecting the Trump administration’s broad immigration crackdown – which has seen international students arrested and detained for engaging in pro-Palestinian speech.
“We’ve already seen the consequences of sudden SEVIS terminations, visa revocations and other actions targeting international students and other noncitizen member throughout this year,” Zuzana Cepla Wootson, deputy director of federal policy at the Presidents’ Alliance told The PIE.
Cepla Wootson said the administration’s actions “created a climate of fear and uncertainty on US campuses, chilling the free exchange of ideas and isolating international students and scholars”.
She warned that, if left unchecked, atmosphere would deter future international students from coming to the US.
The State Department said approximately 16,000 visas had been pulled for DUIs, 12,000 for assaults and 8,000 for thefts. The department has the discretion to terminate a student’s visa at any time.
“Promises made, promises kept,” announced the State Department on social media last week, adding that President Trump and secretary of state Marco Rubio would “always put the safety and interests of the American people first”.
Assault, theft and driving under the influence accounted for almost half of revocations this year
US State Department spokesperson
Under the current administration, the US has also made it more difficult to obtain a visa, implementing tighter social media vetting and expanded screening processes.
In June, a near month-long suspension of student visa appointments at US embassies also proved highly disruptive, with India, China and Nigeria – the country’s largest sending markets – hardest hit by cancellations and unavailability.
As per the government data, roughly 2,000 student visas have been revoked since August, when the department declared more than 6,000 visas in total had been pulled for the same reasons.
Cepla Wootson called the increase “troubling” and emphasised many of the previously reported revocations appeared to lack clear cause or be based on political speech association. She maintained more information was needed about the reasons for the cancelled visas.
The announcement follows a landmark ruling on September 30 that found the administration’s arrests and deportations of international students for pro-Palestinian advocacy illegal, declaring non-immigrants “unequivocal” rights to free expression.
The government immediately said it would appeal the decision and had previously justified the students’ detention under one of Trump’s early directives vowing to take “forceful and unprecedented” steps to combat antisemitism on college campuses.
Traditionally, student visa revocations have not been common, but since mid-March sudden visa revocations by the State Department have contributed to widespread uncertainty among international students on US campuses.
A visa revocation, while significant, only impacts a person’s ability to return to the country, whereas a student SEVIS status permits them to remain in the US.
This spring, the government terminated thousands of students’ SEVIS records, which were later restored by the administration in a shock policy U-turn.
After restoring the records, the government proposed expanding the powers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to cancel students’ legal status if the visa they used to enter the US is revoked, though this has not yet been announced as official policy.
