The Trump administration is ramping up its immigration enforcement with a plan to review all 55 million foreigners who currently hold U.S. visas, officials announced Thursday. The “continuous vetting” effort would allow authorities to revoke visas if holders are found to have “any indicators of overstays, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organization,” according to a State Department statement.
The move marks a major expansion of the administration’s immigration crackdown, which has already included an aggressive ramping up of ICE raids and a travel ban on more than 10 countries.
Since Trump returned to the White House, more than 6,000 student visas have been revoked. The administration has also scrutinized foreign students involved in campus protests against the Israeli war on Gaza, citing alleged antisemitic behavior or support for designated terrorist groups.
Now, anyone holding a visa could find their permissions abruptly revoked, even if they have been in the U.S. for years.
Officials admit the process will be complex and time-consuming. Social media reviews are now part of the vetting, meaning visa holders’ online activity could be scrutinized for hostility toward the U.S. or antisemitism, according to a Washington Post report. “We are gathering more information than ever,” an anonymous senior State Department official told The Post. “Time is not my concern, the security of Americans is.”
The plan immediately drew heat as being overbroad, potentially discriminatory, or unlawful.
“We are a free Country,” Richard Painter, a White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, wrote on X. “Under the First Amendment vetting of visa holders cannot be based on which side they take in foreign wars or the content of political speech that does not demonstrate a genuine threat to the public.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, notes on Bluesky that the move could permit the government to “essentially keep an electronic eye on every noncitizen in the United States, acting immediately on any possible noncompliance,” and that this could include many people outside of the country who currently hold visas which would allow them to enter.
Separately, the administration announced it will stop issuing work visas for commercial truck drivers, citing a fatal Florida highway crash involving an Indian national operating a semitruck. Officials said the change is aimed at protecting American drivers’ safety and jobs, though critics warn it could worsen labor shortages in the trucking industry.
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