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State Department revokes over 6,000 student visas, citing law breaking and overstays

State Department revokes over 6,000 student visas, citing law breaking and overstays

Washington — The State Department says it has revoked more than 6,000 student visas for overstays and violations of the law. 

The vast majority of those violations or alleged violations entailed assault, driving under the influence, burglary, and "support for terrorism," according to a State Department official, although the State Department didn't say whether those were accusations, arrests, charges or convictions. 

Two-thirds of the recently revoked visas were because the students violated the law, the official said. Fox News first reported the student visa revocations. 

Those roughly 6,000 students represent a fraction of the 1.1 million foreign students who studied at colleges and universities in the U.S. in the 2023-2024 academic year, the most recently available data. 

The State Department official said between 200 and 300 of the visas pulled were over accusations that they engaged in "support for terrorism" under federal statute.

The Trump administration has been cracking down on foreign students participating in pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. campuses, as well as universities that allow such protests. In one high-profile incident, Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk's visa was revoked after she wrote an op-ed criticizing U.S. policy in the Middle East, and then was taken into custody by ICE. Her visa was restored and she was released after she spent six weeks in ICE detention. 

The Trump administration has also imposed stricter screening for student visa applications. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced in April that international students, among other visa applicants, would have their social media screened for things including antisemitic content. The State Department has also required that student visa applicants make their social media profiles public. 

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for additional information on the revoked visas. 

Camilla Schick contributed to this report.

Kathryn Watson

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.

Author: Kathryn Watson, Politics Reporter, Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.

Source: CBS News:

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