However, State Department says fewer than 60,000 visas have been revoked.
US visas of a whopping 100,000 people have been revoked since President Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 27, the Department of Justice told a federal court in Virginia.
The lawyer, Erez Reuveni, gave the number in response to a question by the US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema on Friday, according to CNN.
It is not known whether the visas revoked were all those of citizens of the seven Muslin countries against whom Trump issued the order.
But the Department of State told CNN, also on Friday, that fewer than 60,000 visas have been revoked in the past week.
The judge was hearing a lawsuit filed by two lawful permanent residents who were detained at the Dulles International Airport in suburban Washington, DC.
The Justice Department has proposed settling the case.
Referring to the chaos triggered by Trump’s order, Reuveni said even though she has “been on this bench a long time,” she has “never seen such a public outpouring before”
“Without any kind of fact-finding or hard evidence of a need to rescind these decisions, human beings relied on these decisions,” Brinkema said. “I hope the government gives serious thought about how to address these issues.”
“The judge also extended her previous temporary restraining order against removing lawful permanent residents until next Friday,” CNN reporter.