Washington, D.C. – The Trump administration has started a full assessment of more than 55 million people who have valid U.S. visas as part of a huge extension of its immigration enforcement. The State Department told the Associated Press in writing that all visa holders, including tourists, are now subject to “continuous vetting” to find any infractions that might lead to their visas being cancelled.
The department said that the evaluation will look for signs of ineligibility, like overstaying a visa, committing a crime, threatening public safety, or having ties to terrorism. If someone breaks the law, their visa will be cancelled, and if they are in the United States, they will be sent back to their home country. Reports say that the vetting procedure will include looking into social media accounts for ideas that are “anti-American” or “hostile.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a halt on all worker visas for commercial truck drivers, which is in line with this broad new policy. The choice was taken after a mishap in Florida on August 12 that killed three individuals. The driver, Harjinder Singh, was an Indian citizen who came to the U.S. illegally in 2018 but later got a commercial driver’s license in California.
Rubio said that “more and more foreign drivers are driving big tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads, which is putting American lives at risk and hurting the jobs of American truckers.” The State Department said in an official statement that it was putting the visas on hold so that it could “review its screening and vetting protocols” to make sure “that every driver on our roads meets the highest standards.”
The larger visa evaluation is a big step up from the crackdown that started with students who were participating in pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activities. The State Department says that since President Trump took office, it has cancelled more than 6,000 student visas for things like overstaying their visas and breaking the law, such as assault, driving under the influence, and supporting terrorism.
With this new approach, the government is making it obvious that it is going after both unauthorized immigrants and those who are legally in the U.S. The measure shows a tougher stance on immigration, and immigrant rights groups are expected to sue and criticize it.