The United States State Department has revoked more than 6,000 international student visas because of violations of US law and overstays, the department confirmed to the BBC.
According to the agency, the “vast majority” of the violations were related to assault, driving under the influence (DUI), burglary, and “support for terrorism.”
The move is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on immigration and international students.
While the State Department did not specify what it meant by “support for terrorism,” the administration has in recent months targeted some students who protested in support of Palestine, claiming they had expressed antisemitic behaviour.
Of the 6,000 visas revoked, officials said around 4,000 were due to students breaking US law.
Another 200–300 were revoked for “terrorism done under INA 3B,” a provision of immigration law that defines terrorist activity broadly as acts that endanger human life or otherwise violate US law, according to the BBC.
Earlier this year, the administration paused visa appointments for international students.
When scheduling resumed in June, applicants were instructed to make their social media accounts public for enhanced vetting.
Officials said they would look for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.”
State Department officers were also directed to screen for individuals “who advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to national security; or who perpetrate unlawful anti-Semitic harassment or violence.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in May that he estimated “thousands” of student visas had been rescinded since January.
“I don’t know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,” Rubio told US lawmakers on 20 May.
“We’re going to continue to revoke the visas of people who are here as guests and are disrupting our higher education facilities.”
Democrats, however, have condemned the move, describing the policy as an attack on due process and academic freedom.
According to Open Doors, an organisation that tracks foreign student enrolment, more than 1.1 million international students from over 210 countries studied at US colleges during the 2023–24 academic year.
Earlier on Monday, SaharaReporters reported that the United States government has mandated visa applicants to disclose all social media usernames or handles they have used in the past five years, in line with updated requirements on the DS-160 application form.
The U.S. Mission in Nigeria, which made this known in a statement issued on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday, warned that failure to comply with the requirement will lead to visa denial.
“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form,” the statement read.
The requirement, which applies to both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants from Nigeria and other countries, is part of enhanced vetting procedures introduced by the U.S. Department of State under the President Trump administration.
