By Jacob Burg

The Trump administration has rescinded 85,000 visas across all categories since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, a State Department official said on Dec. 9.

The official told The Epoch Times that the revocations, which are more than double the numbers from 2024, include 8,000 students.

“Some of the top reasons why we revoked the visas were DUIs, assaults, and theft, which together account for almost half of the revocations in the past year,” the official said.

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

While the official did not say what the reasons were for the other half of visa revocations this year, the State Department stated in November it had pulled 80,000 visas so far, citing alleged support of terrorism, “actual terrorism,” and overstays in addition to DUIs, assault, theft, and public safety threats.

Some of the State Department’s visa revocations have sparked criticisms from Democrats and others citing First Amendment constitutional concerns, particularly after the agency reiterated earlier this month that it would use social media vetting while screening visa applicants, reminding them to keep their profiles set to “public” during the process.

“The State Department uses all available information in visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to U.S. national security or public safety,” the agency wrote on Dec. 3.

“We conduct thorough vetting of all visa applicants, including online presence review of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sept. 15 that the State Department would begin revoking visas from foreigners allegedly celebrating the murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

“Visa revocations are underway. If you are here on a visa and cheering on the public assassination of a political figure, prepare to be deported,” Rubio wrote on social media.

“You are not welcome in this country.”

A month later, the State Department said it had revoked visas from six foreigners the agency accused of publicly celebrating Kirk’s assassination.

The Supreme Court’s 1945 ruling in Bridges v. Wixon held that noncitizen “resident aliens” still enjoy First Amendment protections, including when facing the threat of deportation by the federal government.

Last week, Rubio said the United States would begin restricting access to visas for Nigerians accused of carrying out violence against Christians “in Nigeria and beyond.”

Andrew Moran contributed to this report.