The US State Department has revoked the visas of more than 6,000 international students for overstays and violations of the law.
This announcement comes amid an ongoing crackdown on immigration and international students carried out by President Donald Trump’s administration.
The department, on Monday, said many of the visas revoked involve violations such as assault, burglary and driving under alcohol influence.
It also said some other visas were revoked because the students expressed “support for terrorism,” without specifying what this meant.
Since the beginning of the year, the administration has targeted students who have protested in support of Palestine, claiming that they had expressed antisemitic behaviour.
“Every single student visa revoked under the Trump Administration has happened because the individual has either broken the law or expressed support for terrorism while in the United States,” the State Department said in a statement, according to Fox News Digital.
It also stated that more than 4,000, out of the 6,000 visas revoked, were visitors who broke the law.
“About 4,000 visas alone have been revoked because these visitors broke the law while visiting our country, including records of assault and DUIs.”
Another 200-300 visas were also revoked for “terrorism done under INA 3B”, the State Department said, referring to code that defines “terrorist activity” broadly as acts that endanger human life or violate US law.
It further noted that about 800 students lost their visas over assault-related offences, either after being arrested or charged.
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Earlier in the year, the US government suspended the scheduling of interviews for student visa applicants worldwide. When it resumed processing in June, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the country introduced a new policy that required international students to unlock their social media accounts for review.
This policy affected students from Nigeria and other countries.
The US government also ordered consular officers in different countries to look out for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles.
“It is an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump Administration is doing every single day,” a State Department official had said.