'We probably have more visas to...': Rubio says thousands of visas revoked under Trump, with more to follow

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said his office had likely revoked thousands of visas as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration push, adding, "We probably have more to do." The remark came during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing amid mounting concerns over visa crackdowns targeting students and critics of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

Rubio, fielding questions from lawmakers, acknowledged that the total number of revoked visas under his watch had likely surged well beyond the 300 he previously cited in March. “I don’t know the latest count, but we probably have more to do,” he said.

When pressed for a rough estimate, Rubio responded that the figure was “probably in the thousands.” The revoked visas include both student and visitor categories, and Rubio confirmed he had personally signed off on each case. “A visa is not a right. It’s a privilege,” he added.

The Trump administration has ramped up deportations and visa cancellations in recent months, particularly targeting individuals perceived to be pro-Palestinian or critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Officials claim such views threaten U.S. foreign policy and allege sympathies with Hamas.

But critics have warned the move amounts to an attack on civil liberties. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley called it an “extraordinary violation of due process,” saying, “The idea that one individual could, on their opinion of someone's future activity or expected activity, toss somebody's visa, seems to me an extraordinary violation.”

The debate follows a string of high-profile cases. One such incident involved Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was detained for over six weeks in Louisiana after co-authoring an op-ed criticising her university’s stance on Israel’s Gaza offensive. She was later granted bail and released by U.S. District Judge William Sessions.

Sessions ordered Ozturk’s immediate release, marking one of the most publicised examples of the Trump administration’s visa crackdown on pro-Palestinian voices on American campuses.

(With Reuters inputs)