State Department Cracks Down on Visas of People ‘Working on Behalf of U.S. Adversaries’

The State Department announced a “significant expansion” of its visa restriction policy to target “those working on behalf of U.S. adversaries to undermine” the country’s interests in the Western Hemisphere.

The department also said it has already “taken steps” to impose restrictions on 26 individuals as part of the expansion. A list of the individuals’ identities and their specific activities that warranted the visa restriction has not been made public. The policy will generally render the individuals and their family members ineligible for entry into the country.

Activities that could warrant the restriction, according to the announcement, include but aren’t limited to: “enabling adversarial powers to acquire or control key assets and strategic resources in our hemisphere; destabilizing regional security efforts; undermining American economic interests; and conducting influence operations designed to undermine the sovereignty and stability of nations in our region.”

The State Department’s policy aligns with the Trump Administration’s desire to exert more influence over the Americas. President Donald Trump has embraced the term “Donroe Doctrine,” a contemporary reinterpretation of an 1823 foreign policy vision by former President James Monroe that focuses on U.S. dominance in the Western hemisphere. Trump has pushed for this foreign policy maxim as China, a U.S. geopolitical competitor, has increasingly influenced the region.

Trump cited the doctrine when the U.S. conducted an extraordinary military operation to depose Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. The U.S. military has also continued to strike alleged drug-trafficking boats as part of what it described as a campaign against narco-terrorism, though public evidence supporting the narco-terrorism claims is scant.

Immigration policy as foreign policy

The State Department’s visa expansion policy announcement cited the Trump Administration’s authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which says the entry of foreign nationals can be restricted if the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe it “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the U.S.

The President has, since his return to the White House, implemented a harsh anti-immigrant agenda, but he has wielded immigration tools as a foreign and domestic policy lever.

In July, the Administration revoked the visas of Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes and his allies, whom it accused of conducting a “political witch hunt” against Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro.

And in September, the State Department said it will revoke the visa of Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, who commonly clashes with Trump, after he urged U.S. soldiers to disobey Trump’s orders, in protest of the U.S.’s role in the war in Gaza. Petro visited Washington earlier this year using a special visa, though the Colombian leader claimed his visa was “reinstated” until the end of his term in August.

At the start of the year, nationals of 39 countries, and individuals traveling on Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, were either fully or partially restricted from entering the U.S., expanding a June 2025 travel ban. In January, the Administration also paused visa processing for nationals of 75 countries deemed to have a high risk of using public benefits.

The Trump Administration has revoked visas for speech it deems divisive, and it has revoked thousands of student visas for overstays and other alleged violations, such as what it claims to be support for “terrorism” that included participation in pro-Palestinian protests. Legal and undocumented immigrants have been targets for detention and deportation, and tourists, visitors, and international students have been placed under heightened scrutiny. The Administration also has tightened its criteria for U.S. citizenship applicants to “root out anti-Americanism.”