The United States has revoked more than 100,000 visas in a sweeping enforcement drive that is reshaping the landscape for foreign students, skilled professionals, and other non-immigrant visitors. The State Department says the move is part of a broader effort to tighten immigration controls and remove non-citizens it deems a threat to public safety.

According to figures released by the department, the revocations include roughly 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialised work visas. All were tied, U.S. officials say, to individuals who had encounters with law enforcement for criminal activity, ranging from driving under the influence to assault and theft.

“The State Department has now revoked over 100,000 visas, including some 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialised visas for individuals who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement for criminal activity,” the department said in a public statement. “We will continue to deport these thugs to keep America safe.”

The language underscores how aggressively the administration has framed its immigration agenda. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the government has cast visa policy not only as a tool of border management but as a central pillar of domestic security. Officials say the visa cancellations are part of a broader campaign that has produced more than 2.5 million voluntary departures and deportations, a figure the administration has touted as a record.

Behind the headline numbers is a significant shift in how the U.S. monitors and manages foreign nationals already inside the country. The State Department has created a Continuous Vetting Center, a unit designed to track visa holders on an ongoing basis rather than relying solely on checks at the time of application or entry.

State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the center’s mission is to ensure “all foreign nationals on American soil comply with our laws – and that the visas of those who pose a threat to American citizens are swiftly revoked.” He identified overstays, driving under the influence, assault, and theft as the four leading causes of visa cancellations, and said the total number of revocations represented a 150 percent increase from the previous year.

Continuous vetting marks a departure from the traditional model in which most background checks were front-loaded, conducted before a visa was issued or renewed. Under the new system, information from law enforcement databases, immigration records, and in some cases social media is fed into automated screening tools that flag individuals for further review. If officials determine that a visa holder has violated U.S. law or poses a security risk, the State Department can revoke the visa even if the person is already living, studying, or working in the country.

Supporters of the policy argue that this approach closes dangerous gaps. They point to high-profile cases in which foreign nationals with prior arrests or warnings remained in the U.S. until they were implicated in more serious crimes. For them, the new system is a long-overdue modernization of immigration enforcement, aligning it with the kind of continuous monitoring already used in some national security and defense contexts.

Critics, however, warn that the rapid expansion of revocations risks sweeping up people who pose little or no threat, and that the process can be opaque and difficult to challenge. Immigration lawyers say they have seen a rise in clients who discover their visas have been cancelled only when they attempt to travel, renew documents, or re-enter the country after a trip abroad.

“We are seeing students and professionals who have built their lives here suddenly find themselves out of status, sometimes over relatively minor offences or misunderstandings,” said one immigration attorney who has represented multiple clients in recent revocation cases. “The problem is not just the decision itself, but the lack of clear notice and the limited opportunity to contest it.”

For international students, the stakes are particularly high. A revoked visa can mean the abrupt end of a degree program, the loss of tuition already paid, and the collapse of long-term plans to work or conduct research in the U.S. Universities, already grappling with fluctuating international enrollment, are watching the trend with concern.

Higher education administrators say they are fielding more questions from prospective students and their families about the stability of U.S. visa status and the risk of sudden policy shifts. Some institutions have expanded legal counseling and compliance workshops, urging students to avoid even minor infractions that could trigger scrutiny under the new regime.

The impact is also being felt in sectors that rely heavily on specialised foreign workers, such as technology, engineering, and healthcare. Employers who sponsor visas for highly skilled staff now face greater uncertainty about whether those employees will be able to remain in the country for the duration of their contracts. Human resources departments report spending more time on immigration risk assessments and contingency planning.