Nineteen Republican lawmakers want foreign students in the United States who have expressed support for Hamas to have their temporary visas revoked and be deported and are calling on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to take action.
Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.,) and Jeff Duncan, (R-S.C.), who are members of the Anti-Woke Caucus, drafted a letter addressed to Mayorkas and Blinken expressing concern over reports of pro-Hamas demonstrations.
“We write to request information regarding the potentially unlawful presence on U.S. soil of non-immigrant foreign nationals who have endorsed terrorist activity,” they wrote.
Banks and Duncan point out that under the Immigration and Nationality Act, students on student visas can be deemed ineligible if they endorse or support terror activities. Typically, this eligibility is assessed during the visa application process, but visa holders can also face revocation if they violate the terms of their visa.
The letter cited various pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges and universities nationwide. These include accounts of throat-slitting gestures and endorsements of terrorists as “liberation fighters” and “martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for liberation.”
“Others [sic] student demonstrator slogans and memes, such as the paraglider terrorist, are most reasonably interpreted as endorsing or espousing terrorism. Similarly, praising mass murder as ‘creative’ or ‘valiant’ and glorifying the perpetrators of such atrocities as ‘martyrs’ are clear endorsements of terrorism and terrorist organizations,” the letter continued. “Foreign students contribute much to our society, but individuals who advocate terrorist violence against civilians are not welcome here. If a visa was issued before DHS uncovers evidence of a visa-holder’s ineligibility under INA s.212(a)(3)B), in the interest of national security, the individual in question should immediately have their visa revoked and face expedited deportation proceedings.”
Other lawmakers called for the deportation of pro-Hamas foreign students earlier this week.
“The foreign national students on visas who are protesting against our ally Israel should be sent back to their country,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It’s devastating to see people in our country celebrating a terrorist organization for the annihilation of our Jewish brothers and sisters,” Scott continued. “Hamas wants to wipe Israel off the map, but they won’t stop there. They also want to eliminate all Jews on the planet and destroy Western democracy.”
“If you’re a visitor to our country and support Hamas’ gruesome murder of innocent babies and killing people while they sleep, then you do not get to remain in America and enjoy freedoms that are antithetical to the terrorist extremists you support,” Duncan said. “Americans refuse to allow antisemitic terrorist sympathizers to create home-grown terrorist cells on our soil. Americans should never support terrorists over innocent people fighting for freedom from oppression.”
Unfortunately, there’s little reason to believe that the Biden administration will take such action.
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