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US pulls visas from more than 30 additional international students

“Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” the U.S. Secretary of State said of foreign visitors supporting terrorist organizations.

Stanford University
Wallenberg Hall on the Stanford University Main Quad in Palo Alto, Calif., May 2011. Credit: King of Hearts via Wikimedia Commons.

At least three dozen international students and alumni from Stanford University and colleges within the Univesity of California system recently had their visas revoked by the Trump administration for participation in pro-Palestinian or pro-Hamas campus protests, the New York Post reported.

Stanford confirmed to NBC News that four students and two alumni of the university had lost their visas, while the UC system reported 35 current students and alumni either lost their visas or were otherwise affected by the administration’s vow to crack down on foreign visitors, including international students, who support terrorist organizations or threaten national security.

The “zero tolerance” policy is part of ongoing federal action in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order combating antisemitism. The crackdown, including the deportation of pro-Hamas protesters, began last month when the administration attempted to deport Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil for his leadership of antisemitic and anti-Israel protests at the university.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on March 27 that the administration had revoked more than 300 visas.

“We do it every day,” Rubio said at a press conference in Guyana. “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas.”

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