The Trump administration has reportedly revoked the visa of a student who protested in favor of Hamas, the Islamic terrorist organization which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Fox News.
The outlet said on Thursday the U.S. State Department confirmed the news, but legal constraints did not allow officials to identify the student or the university the individual attended.
State Department officials said, “Yesterday evening, we revoked the first visa of an alien who was previously cited for criminal behavior in connection with Hamas-supporting disruptions. This individual was a university student. ICE will proceed with removing this person from the country.”
President Donald Trump has issued many calls for foreign students on American university campuses to have their visas revoked if they supported terrorist groups. The Fox report noted that many college campuses across the nation have been epicenters for anti-Israel demonstrations. Some of those instances resulted in threats against Jewish students, violence against police, and vandalism.
In October 2023, Breitbart News reported that then-President Joe Biden’s (D) administration had no plans to revoke visas of students taking part in the protests that defended Hamas.
“After a number of Republicans urged Biden’s State Department to revoke the visas of pro-Hamas foreign students who hold F-1 visas, National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby said the administration will not do so,” the report said.
In May, then Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is now the Secretary of State, said the time had come for student visa holders in the U.S. backing Hamas to be expelled, per Breitbart News.
The article continued:
“If you’re in America on a student visa and you’re supporting Hamas, then it’s time for you to go!” wrote Sen. Rubio on X this week.
The post included a clip of Rubio speaking on the Senate floor following the October 7 massacre, which saw the Hamas terrorist group perpetrate the deadliest attack against Jewish people since the Nazi Holocaust. The massacre saw the torture, rape, execution, immolation, and abduction of hundreds of Israeli civilians, as well as widespread Palestinian support for it.
On Wednesday, Trump met with several freed Israeli and American Israeli hostages and vowed to punish Hamas and Gaza if all of them are not released, per Breitbart News.
During the gathering in the Oval Office, the former hostages thanked the president for his efforts to free them and pressed him to keep working to do the same for the other roughly 60 who remain in Gaza.
“About two dozen of those are thought to still be alive; the rest are dead. ‘We believe you have been sent by God’ to release the remaining hostages, one hostage told the president,” the outlet said.