Secretary defends paused refugee admissions and visa revocations pending improved vetting
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Summary
The Secretary said the administration paused large‑scale refugee admissions to fix vetting gaps after "a flood" of entrants and defended visa revocations as tools to protect national interest, saying nearly 1,000,000 legal entries are expected this year while asserting the right to control admission criteria.
In questioning on refugee admissions and visas, the Secretary said the administration paused large‑scale refugee intake to correct vetting failures and prioritize national security. He described the prior four years as having seen "a flood of people" enter and said the government must know who is admitted, why they are coming and what risk they might pose.
"This year alone, close to 1000000 people will enter this country legally," the Secretary said while describing reforms to admission processes and pledging more detailed vetting. He highlighted specific plans to address religious worker visa backlogs and said the administration expected to announce actions "early next month."
On visa enforcement, the Secretary said the department has revoked or denied tens of thousands of visas for various reasons and defended revocation as a lawful tool when admissions implicate national security or public‑safety interests. He declined to provide exact, rolling figures in the briefing but offered to provide numbers on request.
The Secretary also supported temporary suspensions of certain programs when vetting questions arise and said the administration is examining diversity‑visa and other programs for potential systemic deficiencies before restarting them.
