By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
The State Department put a number on its visa crackdown Monday: roughly 175,000 revoked so far, by the agency's own count.
Officials said the majority of the cancellations targeted foreign nationals found to have committed violations of their entry terms, and the agency's announcement leaned heavily on cases involving serious offenses. What the announcement did not include was a full breakdown — how many of the 175,000 lost their visas over criminal charges, how many for visa-overstay or work-authorization violations, and how many were still in the country when the revocation hit.
The figure comes from the State Department's own reporting; there is no independent audit cited alongside it. That matters for readers trying to size up the claim — a number this large, delivered without granular detail, tells you the direction of policy more than it tells you the shape of it.
The revocations sit alongside a broader pattern this year of stepped-up immigration enforcement, including Justice Department lawsuits this week against New York, Connecticut and Vermont over in-state tuition benefits for immigrants living in the country illegally. Together, the moves mark a sustained federal push — one traceable across visa policy, higher education, and interior enforcement — to narrow who gets to stay and on what terms.
What's not yet answered: what happens to the people whose visas were pulled, and whether any dispute the grounds. The State Department's announcement did not address either question.
FILED FROM SOMEWHERE WITH BAD COFFEE —
— Compiled from reporting by the Washington Examiner.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."