300+ student visas revoked, more pro-Hamas arrests coming, Secretary Rubio says
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department has revoked more than 300 student visas and will continue deportations in its crackdown on campus Anti-Semitism.
International students on F-1 visas risk deportation for supporting Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, not adhering to U.S. laws by overstaying their visas, or failing to maintain their legal status.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department has revoked more than 300 student visas and plans to revoke more as the Trump administration continues to arrest and deport pro-Hamas campus activists.
“Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” Rubio said in a Thursday press conference.
Rubio’s statement doubles down on his early March warning to foreign students that they could face visa revocation and deportation for supporting designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas.
”We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist,” Rubio said at the press conference.
Amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student visas, Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon recently issued a warning to university leaders to better vet foreign students who might have a “terrorist background,” Campus Reform reported.
McMahon’s statement was directed at Columbia University administrators, who reportedly declined to aid the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in identifying and tracking down pro-Hamas activists.
Many of the foreign students who have faced deportation for their support of Hamas have F-1 student visas, which are for international students pursuing academic studies at a “university, college, high school” or other academic institution, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While studying in the United States, students with visas must “maintain status” by complying with laws, attending all classes, maintaining a full course load, and maintaining academic progress.
F-1 students can only remain in the United States for the duration of their program or study, which is often four years for undergraduate degrees and additional years for masters’ and doctorate programs.
Campus Reform recently reported that two pro-Palestine students faced arrest and deportation for failing to maintain status and overstaying their visas.
Leqaa Kordia, a 21-year-old Palestinian student arrested for her involvement in pro-Hamas protests at Columbia University, overstayed her expired F-1 student visa for over three years. Kordia failed to maintain status for “lack of attendance,” according to an announcement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Another student, 37-year-old Ranjani Srinivasan, had her F-1 visa revoked for her pro-Hamas activism, and DHS obtained video footage that showed her self-deport.
“It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated in the announcement.
To apply for a student visa, students fill out a DS-160 application through the U.S. Department of State with their personal information, including addresses, contacts, family information, work history, education, and additional background information.
Detained Columbia pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil reportedly lied on his visa application, hiding his work for a United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees with ties to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the New York Post reports.
Khalil’s arrest was one of the first of many in the Trump administration’s crackdown on Anti-Semitism.
Last week, Campus Reform reported that Cornell University graduate student Momodou Taal, a 30-year-old dual citizen of the United Kingdom and The Gambia, had his student visa revoked and has been ordered for deportation.
At Georgetown University, postdoctoral fellow Indian citizen Badar Khan Suri had his visa revoked and is facing deportation for “spreading Hamas propaganda.”
[RELATED: ‘GUN TO THE HEAD’: AFT, AAUP sue Trump admin over $400M Columbia freeze]
To study in the U.S., foreign students can obtain either an F-1 or M-1 visa.
While F-1 visas are for students pursuing academic studies, M-1 visas are for students enrolled in “a technical program at vocational or other recognized nonacademic institution,” according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. M-1 students can only remain in the U.S. for up to a year.
Foreign students on visas are eligible to obtain driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers, and can apply for employment. They can enter the U.S. 30 days prior to their program of study, and F-1 students can take an “annual vacation” after one year.
After completing their academic program, students can extend their stay by furthering their studies, transferring to another school, or applying for another visa, such as an H-1B temporary worker visa, according to a DHS webpage.
