The State Department is reportedly preparing a sweeping review that could result in the revocation of tourist and business visas held by as many as 200,000 foreigners who entered the United States on temporary visas and subsequently applied for asylum.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the action could be announced within weeks and would involve B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026. The report is based on State Department documents obtained by the AP and information from two U.S. officials.
B1 visas generally allow temporary travel to the United States for business purposes, while B2 visas cover activities including tourism, visiting family and obtaining medical treatment. Both are temporary, nonimmigrant visas and require applicants to demonstrate that they intend to leave the United States rather than remain permanently.
People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims. Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their “race, religion, nationality,… pic.twitter.com/fNHbj1SsIX
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) August 24, 2026
According to the AP, the government is now targeting cases in which visa holders later applied for asylum.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott confirmed that the department is working with the Department of Homeland Security to identify foreigners who entered on short-term visas and subsequently sought to remain permanently through the asylum system. He did not confirm the reported figure of 200,000.
“The number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis,” Pigott said.
Any immigration enforcement resulting from the visa reviews would involve DHS.
The effort comes after the State Department revoked more than 175,000 visas since the beginning of 2025, with many of those actions involving foreign nationals arrested for criminal offenses.
People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims. Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their “race, religion, nationality,… pic.twitter.com/fNHbj1SsIX
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) August 24, 2026
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau offered the administration’s rationale Monday, arguing that asylum has increasingly been used as a means of remaining in the United States rather than for the limited circumstances Congress intended.
“Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws,” Landau wrote on X.
Federal asylum law provides protection for people who meet legal requirements involving persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.
Landau argued that large numbers of applications that ultimately fail to meet those requirements have contributed to enormous case backlogs. Because cases can take years to resolve, asylum applicants may in some circumstances obtain employment authorization while their claims remain pending.
That employment authorization has also intersected with another immigration dispute: commercial trucking.
People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims. Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their “race, religion, nationality,… pic.twitter.com/fNHbj1SsIX
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) August 24, 2026
Until a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule issued in February, certain asylum applicants with federal employment authorization could qualify for non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses. The new rule eliminated that eligibility category.
The issue has particular significance for the Sikh community. According to the North American Punjabi Trucking Association, approximately one-fifth of Sikhs living in the United States work in trucking.
Raman Dhillon, the association’s chief executive, has emphasized that affected drivers obtained their commercial licenses through state motor vehicle agencies while receiving their employment authorization from the federal government.
People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims. Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it’s supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their “race, religion, nationality,… pic.twitter.com/fNHbj1SsIX
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) August 24, 2026
Meanwhile, the number of Indian nationals seeking asylum increased dramatically during the Biden administration.
Department of Homeland Security figures cited in previous reporting show 41,030 asylum applications from Indian nationals in fiscal year 2023, compared with 4,330 in fiscal year 2021 — an increase of nearly tenfold in two years.
