Trump’s first 100 days see 4,000 US student visas revoked amid deportation crackdown

The Trump administration’s mass deportation push is beginning to show its reach, starting with international students. According to a New York Post report, at least 4,000 student visas have been revoked in the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, sparking fresh alarm among immigrants, tourists, and rights groups.

The wave of revocations comes amid a sharp rise in reports of detentions and deportation proceedings involving foreign students and travellers. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have reportedly detained several visitors upon arrival in the U.S., adding to the climate of fear.

A senior State Department source pushed back on these concerns, telling the Post that 90% of the revoked visas involved students with serious criminal charges, including assault, DUI, domestic abuse, human and wildlife trafficking, and child endangerment. “They came and they were breaking the law with no consequences,” the official said. “We set up a special action team to handle this.”

The State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) collaborated to identify international students in the US whose student visas would be revoked. DHS accessed its databases and compared student information with law enforcement records.

They focused on "serious" cases, excluding minor offences like littering or dropped charges. Thousands of students, primarily from Asia and the Middle East, were notified their student status was terminated. Some left the US voluntarily, while others faced deportation by immigration agents, seemingly as part of a larger deportation initiative under the Trump administration.

In-campus protests

Rubio’s comments follow a wave of campus protests, particularly pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which the administration has viewed as disruptive and unlawful. However, several immigration attorneys claim that international students are being swept up in the crackdown regardless of whether they participated in such events or have any criminal record at all.

The administration has hinted that similar scrutiny may soon extend to other visa categories. Earlier this year, Trump escalated a legal challenge to birthright citizenship at the Supreme Court, part of a broader push to reshape the country’s immigration framework.