update deskU.S. News

Rubio: Revoke visas for foreign university students who support Hamas

The Florida senator called for “expedited deportation proceedings.”

Pro-Palestinian Protest, Encampment, University of Connecticut
A rock at the University of Connecticut painted with pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel messages in response to the arrest of student protesters at the school earlier in the day, April 30, 2024. Credit: RosaSeaOtter via Wikimedia Commons.

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) advocated more aggressive measures to regain security for Jewish students on American college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.

“For those international students who defied university orders, and police instruction, in favor of acting on pro-terrorist views, this should result in immediate expulsion from their host institution and our generous country,” Rubio wrote on May 8. “No questions asked.”

He wrote, “Let me be clear: espousing support for a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization is grounds for the termination of a visa and immediate removal from our country.”

Given increasing arrests at anti-Israel protests, Rubio urged Mayorkas to ensure that “those who are in our country on visas are placed into expedited deportation proceedings.”

The senator also reminded that federal law required universities “to submit timely updates in SEVIS regarding a student’s status, including disciplinary actions, termination and arrest.”

On May 1, he wrote on X that “the pro-Hamas antisemitic freaks make a lot of news, but don’t forget there is still a lot more of us than them.”

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