The Trump administration has revoked more than 4,000 student visas in its first 100 days. The effort targets foreign nationals with serious criminal records, including assault, robbery, and child endangerment, according to senior officials at the State Department.
Over 90% of the students whose visas were revoked had been linked to crimes such as arson, human and wildlife trafficking, domestic violence, and driving under the influence. More than 500 of them had been charged with or convicted of assault. A majority of the affected students came from Asia and the Middle East.
“They came and they were breaking the law with no consequences,” a senior State Department official told The New York Post. “We set up a special action team to handle this.”
The visa crackdown, part of President Trump’s broader deportation and public safety agenda, was carried out through a joint effort between the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.
Officials cross-referenced law enforcement records with visa holders using federal databases to identify serious offenders.
“We’re not talking about minor things like littering or dropped charges,” the official said. “This is about people who came to our country and violated our laws in serious ways.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is leading the visa enforcement effort, defended the administration’s policy at a recent Cabinet meeting.
“No one’s entitled to a student visa,” Rubio said. “If you come to this country as a student, we expect you to go to class and study and get a degree. If you come here to vandalize a library, take over a campus, and do all kinds of crazy things, we’re going to get rid of these people.”
The policy has also been applied to students involved in anti-Israel campus protests. In recent weeks, the State Department confirmed that hundreds of student visas were revoked for international students who participated in those demonstrations.
Fox News Digital reported that the State Department views this new enforcement approach as part of an effort to bring oversight and accountability back to the visa system.
“Our visa system has lacked oversight and accountability,” a senior official told Fox. “Over the past 100 days, the Trump administration has worked to fix a broken system.”
The department did not release exact numbers of those deported or still facing removal but confirmed that many affected students have already left the country, while others are set to be deported by immigration authorities.
The administration has indicated this policy may expand beyond student visas to other visa categories in the future.