Trump plans largest mass visa cancellation in history: Who will it affect?

What the report says

The Trump administration says it plans to revoke B-1 and B-2 business and tourist visas issued between 2016 and 2026 for foreign nationals who have applied for, or are currently seeking, asylum in the United States. Al Jazeera reported that officials framed the move as part of a broader immigration crackdown in President Donald Trump’s second term, and that experts described it as potentially the largest single mass visa revocation in US history. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the policy targets people who entered as short-term visitors and later filed for asylum.

According to documents cited by the Associated Press, the measure could affect up to 200,000 people, though the State Department has not released its own total. Al Jazeera noted that revoking a non-immigrant visa is not the same as ending an asylum case, so many affected people would likely still be able to pursue asylum while their claims are pending. However, once a visa is revoked, they would lose that underlying temporary status if their asylum cases are later denied.

The reported policy raises legal and administrative questions, including how the government will match records across agencies to identify eligible visa holders. It may also have a broader deterrent effect by discouraging future asylum claims from people entering on tourist or business visas. Al Jazeera said the exact nationalities affected are unclear, because the government has not published a detailed breakdown of asylum seekers who entered on these visas.