The Trump administration is planning to revoke the visas of approximately **200,000 people who entered the United States on business or tourist visas and subsequently applied for asylum**, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The plan is reportedly expected to be implemented in the coming weeks. If carried out, it could become the **largest single visa-cancellation effort in U.S. history**.
At the same time, legal challenges are likely if the administration moves forward with the policy.
AP obtained an exclusive document from the U.S. State Department and spoke with two department officials familiar with the matter. According to the document and the officials, the administration has decided to cancel the visas of around 200,000 people who entered the United States on **B-1 or B-2 visas** between 2016 and 2026 and later applied for asylum.
The plan will reportedly be carried out jointly by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed the policy to AP.
He said many foreign nationals enter the United States on temporary nonimmigrant visas as short-term visitors but then apply for asylum and seek to remain in the country permanently. According to Pigott, the State Department has decided to identify these applicants and revoke their visas in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
Pigott did not provide a specific number of visas that will ultimately be revoked. He said the process is ongoing and that it is therefore not yet possible to determine exactly how many applicants will be affected.
### What Are B-1 and B-2 Visas?
The United States issues **B-1 visas** primarily to foreign nationals traveling for business purposes.
**B-2 visas** are generally issued for tourism, visiting family members, medical treatment, and other temporary visits.
The State Department has not provided detailed figures showing how many foreign nationals entered the United States on B-1 and B-2 visas between 2016 and 2026, or how many subsequently filed asylum applications.
Officials emphasized that having a visa revoked would **not necessarily mean immediate deportation**.
According to the officials, most of those affected would instead be placed in a different immigration category, meaning they would lose their status as business or tourist visitors but would not automatically be removed from the United States.
### New Pressure on Visa Applicants
The administration is also imposing stricter expectations on people currently applying for B-1 and B-2 visas.
Officials said applicants are increasingly being asked to assure the U.S. government that they will **not apply for asylum after entering the United States** and that they will return to their home countries after their visits.
Although described as an informal requirement, this assurance has effectively become an important condition for obtaining a visa.
The latest move is part of a broader tightening of U.S. immigration policy since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025.
Over the past year and a half, thousands of foreign nationals have reportedly had their visas revoked, visa fees have increased, and visa processing for citizens of some countries has been suspended or subjected to additional scrutiny.
On Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X that people in the United States and around the world were frustrated with what he described as fraudulent asylum applications.
He argued that the asylum system should not be treated as a loophole in U.S. immigration law.
### Potential Legal Battle
The proposed mass visa cancellations could nevertheless face significant legal challenges.
The administration would be targeting people who entered the United States legally on valid nonimmigrant visas and later exercised their right to seek asylum. Whether the government can broadly revoke those visas after the fact—and what consequences that revocation can legally carry—could become the subject of court challenges.
If implemented as described, the policy would represent a major escalation in the Trump administration’s effort to restrict immigration and prevent temporary visitors from using the asylum system as a pathway to remain permanently in the United States.
For the roughly 200,000 people potentially affected, however, the immediate consequences may vary depending on their individual immigration and asylum cases.
**Source: Associated Press (AP)**
