U.S. revokes 85,000 visas held by Nigerians and other foreign nationals

The U.S. State Department has revoked a record 85,000 visas belonging to foreign nationals, including some Nigerians, as the Trump administration intensifies scrutiny of visitors entering the United States.

According to officials, more than 8,000 of the revoked visas were student visas, a figure that is more than double the number recorded in 2024.

Officials say the visa revocations were driven by a range of security and criminal concerns, including DUIs, assault and theft, offences that together accounted for nearly half of all cancellations over the past year.

“These are people who pose a direct threat to our communities’ safety, and we do not want to have them in our country,” a U.S. official said.

The update comes as Trump, upon assuming office, vowed to lead the largest deportation drive and crackdown on illegal immigrants in the United States.

Criminal and security concerns

U.S. consular officers have been instructed to take a tougher approach to H-1B applications and deny visas to anyone found to have engaged in “censorship or attempted censorship” of protected speech in the United States.

In November, the Department of State cited assault, theft, and driving under the influence among the major reasons for the visa revocations.

Other reasons include terrorism, supporting terrorism, public safety threats, and overstaying visas.

The administration also moved to pause immigration from 19 countries already subject to partial or full travel restrictions.

Last week, the State Department announced a new visa-restriction policy targeting individuals accused of orchestrating anti-Christian violence in Nigeria and other parts of the world. The measure follows a series of deadly attacks in the West African nation.

By Adekunle Agbetiloye, Business Insider Africa