Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed Thursday that he’s revoked the visas of at least 300 foreign students – warning that if you come to the US to “create a ruckus,” you’ll be kicked out.
“It might be more than 300 at this point,” Rubio told reporters at a press conference in Guyana when asked about the number of overseas scholars who have had visas pulled under the Trump administration.
“We do it every day,” the secretary of state continued. “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.”
Rubio, 53, has previously warned that the US will have “zero tolerance” for foreign visitors, including international students, who support terrorist organizations or threaten national security.
The State Department’s so-called “Catch and Revoke” effort has reportedly involved the use of AI tools to scan social media accounts of foreign student visa holders and assess whether they back US-designated terror groups such as Hamas.
“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.”
The Trump administration has targeted purported instigators of last year’s anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University, which saw protesters harass Jewish students and barricade themselves inside Hamilton Hall, resulting in several arrests.
Rumeysa Ozturk – a Tufts University graduate student from Turkey who previously attended Columbia – was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents earlier this week.
Ozturk’s student visa was “terminated” by the Trump administration over her alleged “activities in support of Hamas,” the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.
Former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil – a green card holder – was detained by ICE on March 8 and is slated for deportation for allegedly distributing pro-Hamas flyers at the Ivy League school.
Rubio argued Thursday that 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.”
“I don’t care what movement you’re involved in,” the chief diplomat 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.”
