Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday that he had revoked visas for at least 300 foreign students. If you come to the US to “make a turmoil,” I warn you that you will be kicked out.
“It could be over 300 at this point,” Rubio asked about the number of foreign scholars who pulled visas under the Trump administration when he told reporters at a press conference in Guyana.
“We do that every day,” the Secretary of State continued. “Every time I find one of these madmen, I take their visa.”
Rubio, 53, previously warned that the US has “zero tolerance” to foreign visitors, including international students who support terrorist organizations and threaten national security.
The State Department's so-called “catch and of coke” initiative reportedly includes assessing whether the use of AI tools scans social media accounts of foreign student visa holders and supporting US-designated terrorist groups such as Hamas.
“At some point, we've removed all of them, so we hope we run out,” Rubio said. “But we're looking for these crazy people every day.”
The Trump administration targeted the instigators of last year's anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University. Protesters harassed Jewish students, looking at barricades inside Hamilton Hall, leading to several arrests.
Lu Mesa Ozturk – a Tufts graduate student from Tufts University who previously attended Colombia – was taken into custody earlier this week by immigration and customs enforcement agents.
The Ozturk student visa was “end” after being allegedly claimed by the Trump administration as “a pro-Hamas activity,” the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.
Mahmoud Khalil, a former Colombian student who is a green card holder, is scheduled to be deported to ICE on March 8th and is scheduled to be deported, allegedly distributing pro-Hamas flyers at Ivy League schools.
“For any country in the world, it was stupid to welcome people into a country that would go to college,” Rubio said on Thursday.
“I don't care about the movements you are involved in,” the chief diplomat continued. “Why do any country in the world allow people to come and be confused? We have given you a visa to come and study and earn your degree, not to become a social activist who tears our university campuses.”
“If you come to the US as a visitor and create a disturbance for us, we don't want it,” Rubio added. “We don't want that in our country. We'll go back and do it in your country. But you're not going to do it in our country.”
