The Biden administration's successor has launched an automated, AI-driven review of more than 55 million current U.S. visa holders, the State Department confirmed, saying the process will institute "continuous vetting" to identify potential immigration violations. Former officials, outside analysts and immigration advocates warned that reliance on automated systems and reduced staffing could produce inaccurate flags, wrongful revocations and uneven targeting.
Officials described the effort as a broad sweep of visa records and related data designed to identify visa overstays, criminal activity, terrorism-related concerns and other grounds for revocation or removal. The review will include cross-references with law enforcement databases, foreign immigration records and publicly available social media accounts, according to people familiar with the plan who spoke to the Daily Mail and to statements from the department.
The use of artificial intelligence follows a series of policy moves by the administration that have narrowed some student visa pathways and cut State Department staffing. Current and former State Department employees described the plan as ambitious and, in some cases, conceptually aimed at prompting people who have overstayed or who lack qualifying status to leave on their own rather than face enforcement. A former State Department employee told the Daily Mail the messaging about a broad sweep could encourage voluntary departures.
The State Department said the continuous vetting process will apply to all visa holders and will be used to surface information that could bar admission or continued lawful presence. The department did not provide a detailed public roadmap of the algorithms, data sources or human review procedures that will be used.
Independent analysts and advocates said that lack of transparency is a central concern. Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, said different government databases often contain incomplete or outdated information, creating risks that automated matches will mischaracterize someone's status. "If somebody has an arrest but is ultimately found innocent, that might not be recorded," she said, noting that automated cross-checks can produce false positives that lead to wrongful revocations.
Technology analyst Rob Enderle said the combination of pressure for productivity and reduced staff raises the risk that AI platforms will prioritize speed over accuracy. "There is a far greater focus on productivity than quality," he said. "That means you can't rely on the results... this could result in either someone being deported in error, or found to be compliant in error."
Officials and former employees acknowledged that while the headline figure of 55 million visa holders represents the universe of current visas, the practical focus will likely be narrower and prioritized by country or other risk markers. Some said publicizing the large number serves as a deterrent to encourage voluntary departures among those who believe they are ineligible, a claim framed by one former employee as a psychological effect of the announcement.
Critics cited recent cases they say illustrate the danger of automated or inadequately overseen decision-making. In April, a Japanese student at Brigham Young University, Suguru Onda, had his visa revoked after what his attorney and media reports described as an apparent AI error that flagged minor traffic citations. Separately, a Turkish student at Tufts University, Rümeysa Öztürk, was detained after an F-1 visa revocation and transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana; the arrest drew criticism from lawmakers and civil rights groups.
A State Department official told Fox News that every student visa revoked under the administration so far involved an individual who had "either broken the law or expressed support for terrorism," an assertion that has been disputed by advocates and legal representatives in some high-profile cases. Since the presidential transition in January, the department said roughly 6,000 student visas have been revoked, about 4,000 of which officials attribute to violations of law.
The administration has also reduced State Department personnel levels in consular and visa-processing functions, a change officials say makes heavier reliance on automated systems a practical necessity. Former employees questioned whether AI can reliably cross-reference tens of millions of identities against evolving legal eligibility criteria, particularly given reductions in human staff to review complex or ambiguous cases.
Advocates urged clear standards for when automation can trigger adverse actions, robust testing of algorithms, and meaningful human oversight. Gelatt called for more transparency about what data sources will be searched and how flagged cases will be adjudicated. "It's one thing to deal with someone linked to a terrorist organization; this is something else entirely," she said, emphasizing the potential harm from misapplied enforcement.
Department officials said they will draw on "all available information" for verification, including social media, foreign immigration records and U.S. law enforcement databases, but did not specify how automated flags will be reviewed before visa revocation or removal actions. Immigration advocates warned that database errors, mismatches of names or records from countries with limited record-keeping could result in wrongful consequences for lawful visitors and students.
Analysts also noted a practical discrepancy between the 55 million figure and the likely domestic population affected: many visa holders live abroad and would be subject to revocation without immediate enforcement action in the United States. Homeland Security numbers cited by officials show nearly 13 million green-card holders and almost 4 million people on temporary visas in the United States last year, underscoring the complexity of any mass review.
The administration has not released a timeline for the review nor published criteria that would indicate when a flagged case moves from automated review to human adjudication or enforcement. Until such details are provided, civil liberties groups and some lawmakers said they will press for oversight, safeguards and recourse for those who believe they have been improperly targeted.
The State Department and Homeland Security did not provide additional detail on the scope of the AI systems, the testing regime or the personnel assigned to monitor and correct automated decisions. Legal challenges and congressional inquiries could follow if large-scale revocations or removals proceed without clear procedural protections, experts said.