The United States has revoked more than 6,000 student visas since Secretary of State Marco Rubio assumed office seven months ago, the State Department confirmed on Monday.
According to officials, about 4,000 of the cancellations were linked to violations of U.S. law, including cases of assault, burglary, driving under the influence (DUI), and alleged support for terrorism.
Rubio, who has embraced a hardline stance welcomed by President Donald Trump’s conservative base, has invoked a little-used provision of U.S. law that permits visa revocations for individuals considered to undermine U.S. foreign policy interests.
“The State Department has revoked over 6,000 student visas for overstays and law violations,” a senior official said, without giving a nationality breakdown. Rubio has, however, repeatedly signaled a focus on Chinese students.
In March, the secretary of state declared he was rescinding visas on a daily basis, targeting activist students whom he accused of extremism. He has also drawn controversy by linking anti-Israel protests on U.S. campuses to antisemitism, a claim rejected by rights groups and student activists.
The administration’s actions have faced legal pushback. Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. permanent resident who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, was released by a judge in June after months in detention and has since sued the government. Similarly, Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, was freed in May after being detained by plainclothes agents following an opinion piece critical of Israel.
Rubio has defended the policy, arguing that the U.S. government has broad authority over visa issuance and revocation, and insisting that non-citizens are not entitled to constitutional protections such as free speech.
The development marks the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration agenda, which includes mass deportation efforts and tightened scrutiny of foreign students.
