The Trump administration said Thursday that it had revoked the visas of at least 300 foreign students protesting and agitating on college campuses and that they are "looking every day" for foreign students who have aligned themselves with terrorist groups like Hamas.
“We do it every day,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a press conference in Guyana. “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.”
“Maybe more, it might be more than 300 at this point,” Rubio said.
Rubio stated three weeks ago on X that the administration has a "zero tolerance" policy for student protesters who express sympathy or solidarity with Hamas terrorists.
“Those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security. The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists. Violators of U.S. law — including international students — face visa denial or revocation, and deportation,” he wrote.
The State Department named the policy "Catch and Revoke," and it uses AI tools and other resources to pull data from visa holders' social media accounts and see who is supporting Hamas and other group like them.
“At some point, I hope we run out because we’ve gotten rid of all of them,” Rubio said. “But, we’re looking every day for these lunatics.”
Citing common sense, Rubio said it would be "stupid" to allow students to stay in the country to cause trouble and turmoil here.
It would be “stupid for any country in the world to welcome people into their country that are going to go to their universities … to start a riot … take over a library and harass people,” he said.
“I don’t care what movement you’re involved in,” he continued. “Why would any country in the world allow people to come and disrupt? We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.”
“If you come into the United States as a visitor and create a ruckus for us, we don’t want it,” Rubio added. “We don’t want it in our country. Go back and do it in your country. But you’re not going to do it in our country.”
Just over 400,000 student visas were given out by the U.S. government in 2024 so that mostly college-age individuals could study at U.S. higher learning institutions.
While most student visas are accepted if students can show they have enough money to complete a degree in the U.S., they also have to agree to follow our laws while they are here.
Getting arrested at a protest has given the government just what it needs to send them back, which Rubio and President Donald Trumo are hoping will take the wind out of campus protest sails and calm things down.
