WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked around 80,000 non-immigrant visas since its inauguration on January 20 for offenses ranging from driving under the influence to assault and theft, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday.

The extent of the revocations, first reported by Washington Examiner, reflects a broad immigration crackdown initiated when Trump came into office, deporting an unprecedented number of migrants including some who held valid visas.

The administration has also adopted a stricter policy on granting visas, with tightened social media vetting and expanded screening.

Around 16,000 of the visa revocations were tied to cases of driving under the influence, while about 12,000 were for assault and another 8,000 for theft.

“These three crimes accounted for almost half of revocations this year,” said the senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In August, a State Department spokesperson said Washington had revoked more than 6,000 student visas for overstays and breaking the law, including a small number for “support for terrorism.”

The department also said last month that it had revoked the visas of at least six people over social media comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May said he has revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people, including students, because of involvement in activities that he said went against US foreign policy priorities.

Directives from the State Department this year have ordered US diplomats abroad to be vigilant against any applicants whom Washington may see as hostile to the United States and with a history of political activism.

Trump administration officials have said that student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, calling their actions a threat to US foreign policy and accusing them of being pro-Hamas.

• Airlines scramble to reduce flights within 36 hours.
• FAA warns more restrictions possible after Friday
• Airline stocks dip as travel disruptions deepen.
  

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO: US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Wednesday that he would order a 10% cut in flights at 40 major US airports, citing air traffic control safety concerns as a government shutdown hit a record 36th day.

The drastic plan sent airlines scrambling to make significant reductions in flights in just 36 hours and passengers flooded airline customer service hotlines with concerns about air travel in the coming days.

Duffy said the cuts could be reversed if Democrats agreed to reopen the government.

The shutdown, the longest in US history, has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay.

The Trump administration has sought to ramp up pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown and has increasingly raised the specter of dramatic aviation disruptions to force them to vote to reopen the government. Democrats contend Republicans are to blame for refusing to negotiate over key health care subsidies.

Tens of thousands of flights have been delayed since the shutdown began because of widespread air traffic control shortages. Airlines say at least 3.2 million travelers have already been impacted by air traffic control shortages

“We had a gut check of what is our job,” Duffy told reporters, citing a confidential safety assessment of the impact of the shutdown on controllersthat raises concerns about their performance. “Our job to make sure we make the hard decisions to continue to keep the airspace safe.”

At a call with major US carriers, the FAA said capacity reductions at the airports would start at 4%, rising to 5% Saturday and 6% Sunday, before hitting 10% next week, industry sources told Reuters. The FAA also plans to exempt international flights from the cuts.

“When we see pressures building in these 40 markets, we just can’t ignore it,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said at a press conference. “We can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating so the system is extremely safe today, will be extremely safe tomorrow.”

While the government did not name the 40 airports affected, the cuts were expected to hit the 30 busiest airports including those serving New York City, Washington, DC, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas. This would reduce as many as 1,800 flights and over 268,000 airline seats, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

The move is aimed at taking pressure off air traffic controllers. The FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers short of targeted staffing levels and many had been working mandatory overtime and six-day weeks even before the shutdown.

The FAA also warned that it could add more flight restrictions after Friday if further air traffic issues emerge.

Airlines for America, a trade group representing major US carriers such as Delta DAL.N, United UAL.O, American, and Southwest LUV.N, said its members were trying to understand the next steps.

“We are working with the federal government to understand all details of the new reduction mandate and will strive to mitigate impacts to passengers and shippers,” it said.

Officials said nothing would be final until the FAA published an order on Thursday.

The federal government has mostly closed as Republicans and Democrats are locked in a standoff in Congress over a funding bill. Democrats have insisted they would not approve a plan that does not extend health insurance subsidies, while Republicans have rejected that.

President Donald Trump and Republicans have been trying to intensify pressure on Democrats by increasing the pain felt by average Americans from the government shutdown.

The closure, which began October 1, left many low-income Americans without food assistance, closed many government services and led to the furlough of about 750,000 federal employees.

Duffy had warned on Tuesday that if the federal government shutdown continued another week, it could lead to “mass chaos” and force him to close some of the national airspace to air traffic.

Airlines have repeatedly urged an end to the shutdown, citing aviation safety risks.

Airline stocks dip 

Shares of major airlines including United and American were down about 1% in extended trading.

Airlines said the shutdown has not significantly affected their business but have warned bookings could drop if it drags on. More than 2,100 flights were delayed on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Bedford said that 20% to 40% of controllers at the agency’s 30 largest airports were failing to show up for work.

Duffy said the authorities would also limit space launches to certain times of the day and are expected to impose restrictions on general aviation flights.

• “We want New York to be successful,” says Trump.
• Trump says, “Let’s see how Mamdani does in New York.”
• Says US loses “sovereignty” after New Yorkers elect Mamdani.
  

MIAMI: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that “we want New York to be successful” and he might offer US assistance to Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who was elected as New York City’s mayor.

“We’ll help him, a little bit maybe,” Trump said at a speech in Miami a day after the election.

In a speech in Miami a day after Mamdani´s convincing victory, Trump said: “Let’s see how Mamdani does in New York.”

He further said that the US had lost “sovereignty” after New Yorkers elected leftist Mamdani as their next mayor.

“We’ll take care of it,” Trump said without explaining what he meant, while claiming the country’s largest city would become communist.

Trump added that the Florida city “will soon be the refuge for those fleeing communism in New York.”

“The decision facing all Americans could not be more clear: We have a choice between communism and common sense,” he said, also casting the choice as between an “economic nightmare” and an “economic miracle.”

The speech marked the first anniversary of Trump’s election victory against Democrat Kamala Harris.

“We rescued our economy, regained our liberty, and together we saved our country on that magnificent night 365 days ago,” Trump told his audience of supporters.

Mamdani’s mayoral race win came despite fierce attacks on his policies and Muslim heritage from business elites, conservative media commentators and Trump himself.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said in a victory speech late Tuesday.

Mamdani’s win, as well as the Democratic Party’s other victories in the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, suggested a shift in political mood as the country looks toward next year´s midterm elections, when control of Congress will be up for grabs.

In another significant win for Democrats, voters in California approved a proposition to redraw electoral districts in a bid to neutralise gerrymandering efforts ordered by Trump in other states.

Trump refused to take any blame for Tuesday’s results.

In a post on his Truth Social network, he cited anonymous “pollsters” suggesting the Republican defeats were due to the government shutdown and the fact that his own name wasn’t on the ballots.

The 34-year-old democratic socialist made history by becoming the first Muslim mayor of the largest US city, defeating Democratic former Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Earlier, Trump acknowledged that Democrats’ sweeping electoral gains signalled mounting trouble for Republicans, calling the results “not good” and linking the setbacks to the record-long federal government shutdown, now stretching into its sixth week.

Addressing GOP senators at a White House breakfast, Trump reflected on the outcome, saying it had not been a positive night for anyone.

The US president said: “We had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot, and we’re going to talk about that.”

He attributed the Republican setbacks partly to the prolonged government shutdown, citing pollsters who found it “a big factor, negative for the Republicans”. Trump added that some analysts viewed his absence from the ballot as the biggest factor.

Trump accused Democrats of being prepared to destroy the country as the government shutdown became the longest in history on Wednesday, eclipsing the 35-day record set during the Republican leader’s first term.

Mamdani to Trump: ‘Turn the volume up’

Mamdani wasted no time calling out President Trump, formally kicking off the battle that will likely define relations between the 34-year-old mayor and the president whose celebrity is tied to the city.

“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!” Mamdani, a Democrat, said during a Tuesday night speech to a raucous crowd of supporters shortly after being declared the victor.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani told supporters. “And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one.”