US set for largest mass visa revocation in history, targeting up to 200,000 foreigners
The State Department is expected to revoke B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 to holders who sought or are seeking asylum.
by The Haitian Times Aug. 25, 2026
The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges. Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum. This is according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum status in the United States. If it happens, the move would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges.
Unless challenged or revised, the State Department is expected to announce in the coming weeks the revocation of so-called B1 and B2 visas issued between 2016 and 2026 whose holders have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum, according to State Department documents obtained by The Associated Press and two U.S. officials. The action will be taken in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
“We are coordinating with DHS to identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors, but then file for asylum to stay here permanently,” said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
He declined to comment on the number of visas that might be revoked, saying “as the process will be ongoing, the number of revocations remains dynamic and will be done on a rolling basis.”
The revocations would not necessarily result in their immediate deportation, the officials said. Most of those with asylum cases currently pending would be recategorized but would lose their status as business or tourism travelers, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the revocations are not final yet.
Since President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year, his administration has steadily ramped up restrictions on visa applicants — demanding more information about their social media histories, requiring the posting of expensive bonds for the processing of visas, and outright banning the issuance of visas to citizens of certain countries.
In a social media post on Monday, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau called out people who he said try to use tourist and business visas to get into the United States and then apply for asylum.
“People in the US and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims,” Landau wrote on X. “Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration law.” Landau cited the case of a Colombian citizen who came to the U.S. in 2015 on a tourist visa and then applied for asylum.
B1 visas are generally issued for business trips and B2 visas are generally issued for tourism, family visits or medical care. It was not immediately clear from the documents or the officials how many of these visa holders are seeking or have sought asylum in the United States and would be affected by the revocations.
Current applicants for B1 and B2 visas are asked to affirm that they will not apply for asylum in the United States and prove that they intend to return to their home countries.
In the past 18 months, the State Department has revoked about 175,000 visas for people who have been convicted or accused of crimes ranging from drunken driving to rape and robbery, as well as for people who have spoken out publicly against U.S. policies, particularly in the Middle East.
The administration has also moved to crack down on so-called birth tourism, a practice the administration claims is used by foreign pregnant women to come to the United States to give birth so that their child will benefit from birthright citizenship. Trump has tried several times to end birthright citizenship, but those challenges have been rejected by courts, including the Supreme Court.
The State Department documents obtained by the AP suggest screening of current B1 and B2 visa holders began after the State Department received information about asylum requests from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Hundreds Rally in New York in Support of Haitian Immigrants After TPS Ends
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August 29, 2026
NEW YORK (Le Floridien) — Several hundred demonstrators gathered at Foley Square in Lower Manhattan on Friday, August 28, before marching through the streets of New York City to protest the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants and demand stronger protections for those now facing uncertainty over their immigration status.
The demonstration brought together Haitian community organizations, immigrant-rights advocates and supporters who called on Congress to intervene following the loss of TPS protections. CBS New York reported that advocates estimate approximately 40,000 Haitians in New York have been affected by the recent Supreme Court decision that allowed the termination to move forward.
Among the organizations represented was Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees, a Brooklyn-based advocacy group. Aline Gue, the organization’s executive director, said the loss of TPS affects virtually every aspect of an immigrant’s life. Demonstrators also heard from Darnell Benoit, director of the Flatbush-based Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project, who delivered a straightforward message: “We are here, we’re not going anywhere, and we belong here.”
Advocates Want Congress to Act
The demonstrators are pushing beyond simply restoring temporary protection. Advocacy groups are calling on Congress to provide a pathway toward permanent residency for people who lost TPS and to pass the American Dream and Promise Act, legislation intended to provide greater legal stability to Dreamers and certain TPS holders.
The Department of Homeland Security has defended the administration’s decision, maintaining that TPS was created as a temporary humanitarian program rather than a permanent immigration status. The federal government officially terminated Haiti’s TPS on July 27, following extensive litigation over the administration’s effort to end the designation.
The consequences are particularly significant in New York, home to one of the country’s largest Haitian communities. Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani described the Haitian community as an “indispensable part of New York City,” pointing to Haitians’ contributions to health care, construction, hospitality, small businesses and the city’s cultural life.
Fear of Deportation Grows
The rally comes as former Haitian TPS holders increasingly seek advice from immigration attorneys about whether they qualify for another legal avenue, including asylum or family-based immigration petitions. CBS New York reported that attorneys are dealing with significant demand as affected immigrants search for alternatives.
The situation has become even more urgent as deportations to Haiti continue. On Friday, the United Nations reported that nearly 200,000 people have been forcibly returned to Haiti during the first eight months of 2026, already exceeding the number recorded during all of last year by at least 20,000. U.S. deportation flights resumed following the end of Haitian TPS even as Haiti continues to confront severe gang violence and a humanitarian crisis.
Friday’s demonstration illustrated that the political battle over Haitian TPS has not ended with the court decisions. For Haitian advocates in New York, attention is now increasingly turning toward Congress and the possibility of a more permanent legislative solution for immigrants who built their lives in the United States under temporary protection.
Haiti hospital seeks former TPS holders to fill medical jobs
Medical center in Fonds-Parisien wants specialty doctors, nurses and others in healthcare leaving the U.S. to consider joining them
by Fritznel D. Octave Aug. 27, 2026
The Haitian Times
Overview:
A medical center in Fonds-Parisien, a rural border town, is recruiting doctors, nurses and other health professionals, including former TPS holders considering returning to Haiti, to keep pace with growing demand and expanding services.
FONDS-PARISIEN, Haiti — As Haitians in the United States grapple with the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a rural medical center in Haiti is seeking to recruit specialty doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals who may be considering returning to Haiti.
Administrators of the 125-bed Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope in Fonds-Parisien, an 80-minute drive east of Port-au-Prince, say they need anesthesiologists, internal medicine specialists, pediatricians, infectious disease doctors, nurses and other health professionals to keep pace with growing demand. Operated by the U.S.-based nonprofit Higgins Brothers Foundation, the community hospital serves about 1,600 patients per month.
Dr. Edward “Ted” Higgins, founder and chairman of Higgins Brothers Surgicenter, said working there is one pathway for Haitians reconsidering their futures in the United States.
“We are offering well-trained professionals a great opportunity to apply the experience gained abroad in their country, where healthcare services remain severely limited and medical facilities face persistent shortages of qualified personnel,” Higgins said in a recent interview with The Haitian Times.
The hospital recruitment is the latest example of efforts encouraging Haitiansfacing immigration status difficulties in the U.S. to consider returning to Haiti as a viable alternative that can have long-term impact on the country.
“The goal is to turn that potential return into opportunities and expand access to healthcare for communities that have long struggled to obtain it,” Dr. Jacques Peterson Thosiac, the facility’s chief surgeon, said.
In a job listing, the institution specifies the positions available, candidate profile, application process, deadline and contact information. It also states that it offers a professional, dynamic work environment with opportunities for professional development and continuous training, while contributing to a mission with significant community health impact.
Overall, the facility’s administrators say they are ready to welcome qualified Haitian medical workers who have built careers in the U.S. and apply their training while filling critical gaps in the country’s healthcare system.
“This is great news,” said Karyll Hyacinthe, founder and chairman of dyaspora.ht, a recently formed digital platform that aims to connect Haitians worldwide who seek to share skills, resources and ideas to pull Haiti out of its crises.
“Any company or organization with such ideas can only benefit Haitians as long as decision-making is equitable,” added Hyacinthe, an Atlanta-based wealth management specialist. “Salaries and benefits should be [equal] among employees, whether they are returning from abroad or already living in Haiti.”
Monthly salaries advertised for in-demand professionals at the Fonds-Parisien hospital range from $2,000 to $4,000, according to Dr. Dieunord Saint Louis, the institution’s medical director. The amount is significantly higher than the salaries posted for Haiti’s healthcare system overall, which available data show is between $500 and $1,500 per month.
An expansion decades in the making
The hospital, located about eight miles west of Malpasse, a major Haiti-Dominican Republic border crossing, has grown substantially since opening about a decade ago.
Initially, a faith-based diaspora-led organization, Haitian Christian Mission (HCM), founded and operated the hospital as Christ for All Medical Center. Financial difficulties in 2020 prompted the organization to consider closing it, Higgins said. Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope subsequently took over the clinic, changed staff and renovated the facility.
Higgins, who is based in Missouri, and volunteer surgical teams began traveling regularly to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to provide care and train Haitian surgical residents from the State University of Haiti Hospital (HUEH) as well as operating-room nurses.
By 2018, several surgical and anesthesia residents who had trained with the teams were nearing the end of their training. Higgins offered them opportunities to continue practicing at the Fonds-Parisien facility rather than leave Haiti.
Several of those physicians are now among the center’s roughly 100 employees, Higgins said. It has since grown into a broader facility offering medical, pediatric, maternity and urological care, HIV treatment, dental care and laboratory, rehabilitation and 24-hour emergency services.
Of its nearly 125 beds across its campus, 25 are surgical, 12 maternity and 20 medical. Another eight to 10 pediatric beds are expected after the unit is renovated.
In 2024, the center performed nearly 400 surgical procedures, provided almost 12,000 medical consultations and treated more than 2,100 emergency patients, Higgins said.
Across all departments, the facility sees about 1,200 to 1,600 patients each month, Higgins said. In July alone, it performed more than 100 surgeries, its highest single-month total, administrators said.
The expansion has increased demand for medical staff and housing. The organization is building additional residences for professionals who plan to stay long-term.
A new medical building, part of a $4.3 million expansion plan over the past four years, provides additional space for clinics, while a 22-unit dormitory allows doctors and nurses to remain on call around the clock for emergencies.
“We are building residences and continue working on a long-term housing project to accommodate medical professionals who are planning on staying with us,” Higgins said, highlighting that the hospital runs on a $1.3 to $1.5 million annual budget, with salaries being a major portion.
The institution’s operations are largely funded privately through individual and organizational donations, fundraising campaigns and events, plus small patient service fees from those who can pay.
The housing project includes a program that provides employees with $40,000 through a 50-50 grant-and-loan plan to build their own homes within the community. Higgins said the $20,000 loan portion is repaid through incremental paycheck deductions.
“This is a very popular program,” Higgins said.
But with Fonds-Parisien being 18 miles east of major areas affected by gang activity, including National Road 8 and Croix-des-Bouquets — a stronghold of the 400 Mawozo gang led by notorious Wilson “Lanmò San Jou” Joseph — security is a major concern.
Thosiac and Saint Louis said they have a private security system in place to keep the community safe, including collaboration with the Haitian National Police (PNH), private security firm and well-trained personnel operating 24/7.
“Our private security force of police has saved us from attacks and built a strong community vigilante force,” Higgins told The Haitian Times.
The need for staff comes as insecurity, displacement and limited access to basic services continue to strain Haiti’s healthcare system. Health facilities have repeatedly suspended operations or reduced services in areas affected by armed groups, including the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, parts of the lower Artibonite Department and Mirebalais in the Centre Department.
Patients have also struggled to reach hospitals as armed groups control or disrupt major roads. In some areas, hospitals have closed or significantly reduced their operations.
Despite those challenges, Higgins said the Fonds-Parisien center continues to receive patients from the Port-au-Prince area and beyond.
“We basically need additional professionals to fill in vacancies in nearly all departments,” Thosiac said.
“We are seeking Haitian providers returning to Haiti who wish to live in our safe and secure community of Fonds-Parisien,” Thosiac said. “The Fonds-Parisien facility is positioning itself as a favorable destination for them.”