The State Department has revoked more than 100,000 visas under the Trump administration’s enforcement policies, with criminal activity—particularly driving under the influence offenses—serving as the primary cause for the bulk of those revocations, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott disclosed this week.
Speaking on Breitbart News Daily, Pigott revealed that the actual number of visa revocations has climbed significantly beyond the 100,000 threshold, with an updated figure expected to be released soon. The aggressive enforcement approach reflects what the administration characterizes as a public safety initiative aimed at removing dangerous foreign nationals from American roads.
“We’ll actually give an update on that number very shortly. It’s much—it’s significantly higher now than 100,000 visas revoked, and the primary causes we’re seeing for those visa revocations is criminal activity, with DUIs being a major component of that criminal activity,” Pigott said during the interview.
Continuous Vetting Program
The visa revocations are part of what Pigott described as a “continuous vetting program” that maintains ongoing communication between the State Department and local law enforcement agencies across the country. Under this system, when visa holders have interactions with police—including arrests or convictions related to driving under the influence—that information flows to consular officers who determine whether visa revocation is warranted.
“What happens is when we see criminal activity-related DUIs, an arrest, interaction with law enforcement, a conviction, we communicate as part of our continuous vetting program to make sure we take visa revocation action if appropriate,” Pigott explained. He emphasized that the cases resulting in revocations represent situations where consular officers deemed such action appropriate based on the severity of the offense.
Once a visa revocation decision is made by the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement takes subsequent action to remove the individual from the country if they are still present in the United States, according to Pigott.
Zero Tolerance Policy
Pigott pushed back strongly against what he characterized as efforts to minimize the seriousness of drunk driving by foreign nationals on temporary visas, calling such attitudes “completely astonishing.” He stressed that the administration maintains a zero-tolerance policy for behavior that endangers American lives on the road.
“I’ve seen some people astonishingly trying to excuse foreigners here on visas that drive drunk on our streets, as if it is not grounds for revoking the visa, which I find completely astonishing,” the spokesperson said, emphasizing the inherent danger of intoxicated driving.
The State Department official cited specific examples of egregious cases that have resulted in visa revocations, painting a picture of serious public safety threats. These include individuals who drove while intoxicated with children in the vehicle, caused injuries to other people while driving drunk, and in at least one case, an individual who appeared intoxicated at a court-mandated DUI program.
“I mean, these are people that were endangering the American people, and so we’re taking appropriate action to protect our streets,” Pigott said.
Policy Context
The visa revocation campaign represents one element of the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement agenda. While the administration has focused significant attention on border security and illegal immigration, this initiative targets individuals who entered the country legally but subsequently violated criminal laws.
The State Department maintains longstanding statutory authority to revoke visas when visa holders engage in behavior that makes them inadmissible or removable from the United States. Criminal convictions, particularly those involving moral turpitude or crimes that suggest a threat to public safety, have historically served as grounds for such revocations.
Pigott’s comments indicate that the current administration has ramped up enforcement of these revocation authorities, with the continuous vetting program serving as the mechanism for identifying visa holders who run afoul of U.S. law after their initial entry.
The coordination between local law enforcement, consular officers, and immigration enforcement agencies represents a significant operational undertaking, requiring information-sharing systems that can flag criminal activity by visa holders across the country’s thousands of police departments and judicial systems.
With the visa revocation number already exceeding 100,000 and continuing to climb, according to Pigott, the program appears to represent one of the larger visa enforcement operations in recent memory. The forthcoming updated figures promised by the State Department spokesperson will likely provide additional clarity on the scope and scale of the initiative.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/07/31/exclusive-tommy-pigott-weve-revoked-over-100000-visas/