Marco Rubio Calls for Revocation of Visas for Foreign Students Who Support Hamas
“If you could not come in because you’re a supporter of Hamas, you should not be able to stay on a visa because you’re a supporter of Hamas”
This is exactly the right thing to do. Foreign students who are in this country do not have a ‘right’ to be here. You support Hamas? You deserve to be shown the door.
Campus Reform reports:
Marco Rubio calls for revocation of visas of Hamas lovers
Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), who was confirmed for his new role leading the State Department in a Senate vote on Monday, said during his confirmation hearing that the federal government should revoke the visas of Hamas supporters staying in the U.S.
The anti-Israel protests that caused chaos on many American campuses following the Oct. 7 massacre frequently saw activists glorify terrorist groups like Hamas. Activists have used pro-Hamas signs, lionized terrorist leaders, and praised the Oct. 7 massacre of Jewish civilians.
In May, 2024, a top Hamas member thanked “the great student flood which emerged from the American, European, and Western universities.”
Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) mentioned an op-ed he and Rubio co-wrote regarding visa revocation of terrorist supporters, and asked Rubio “how will [he] enforce our laws to ensure that we remove supporters of terrorist groups from our country.”
“My view on this is one of common sense,” Rubio stated. “If you apply for a visa to come into the United States, and in the process of being looked at, it comes to light that you are a supporter of Hamas, [then] we wouldn’t let you in. If we knew you were a supporter of Hamas, we would not give you a visa. So now that you got the visa and you’re inside the U.S., and now we realize you’re a supporter of Hamas, we should remove your visa.”
“If you could not come in because you’re a supporter of Hamas, you should not be able to stay on a visa because you’re a supporter of Hamas,” he continued. “That’s how I view it. And I think that’s just an issue of common sense, and we intend to be very forceful about that.”
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Comments
Absolutely cannot fault that logic.
If a guy gets a gun past a TSA checkpoint, and somebody discovers it in the secure area, do they just let him keep it?
Actually you can fault that logic, because it falls foul of the first amendment. What Rubio is missing is that while foreigners who are in foreign countries undoubtedly have the same freedom of speech as all human beings do, the US constitution doesn’t protect it for them. They have the right to express their support for Hamas, but the US is not required to grant them a visa to come here.
However the moment they set foot in the USA they have the absolute right to express any opinion they like, including support for Hamas, and the constitution absolutely forbids any government action to punish them for it, including revoking their visas.
Government acts that would otherwise be lawful become unlawful if their purpose is to penalize the exercise of a constitutional right.
There’s a case from the 1910s when the US barred the entry of anarchists. A foreign anarchist entered the USA illegally and gave a public speech, following which he was arrested and held for deportation. He took his case to the Supreme Court, which upheld the deportation strictly on the grounds that it was not for the speech he gave, which was 100% protected, but simply because he’d entered illegally. The speech was merely how the government became aware of his illegal presence.
Likewise here, it would be unconstitutional to revoke someone’s visa merely because while here he expressed support for Hamas. But if his protest brings to light some crime he’s committed, or some other legitimate reason why he should be deported, then the visa can be revoked for that reason, just as if he hadn’t expressed the opinion.
Close, but no cigar. If the person lied on his visa application, he has lied to federal officials, which is a felony. Out he goes.
What are you talking about? What lie? Visa applications don’t ask about the applicant’s political views, and they certainly don’t ask whether the applicant supports Hamas.
It’s also possible that a student didn’t have an opinion on Hamas until after they got here and learned about it. But first answer the first question. How could there possibly be a lie here?
No it doesn’t. Visa’s can be denied or revoked at the pleasure of the US Government. No one has a right to be here that isn’t a US citizen. Review the tapes of all those on campus riots over the last few years, identify all the foreign students with visas taking part then revoke and give them a ride to the airport. Off you go back to your terrorist craphole.
Diver64, as I wrote above, but you must not have seen because you didn’t address, government acts that would otherwise be lawful become unlawful if their purpose is to penalize the exercise of a constitutional right.
Therefore you are wrong. Visas can be revoked for many reasons, but not as a penalty for exercising a constitutional right.
There is no constitutional right to a visa so you are wrong. The Dept of State can revoke one for any reason they see fit.
And for the third time, because you seem to completely ignore it, government acts that would otherwise be lawful become unlawful if their purpose is to penalize the exercise of a constitutional right.
There is no constitutional right to a visa, but there is a constitutional right to express an opinion, and therefore it is also unconstitutional to revoke someone’s visa because they expressed an opinion.
Likewise there is no constitutional right to receive government funding, but if someone is receiving funding it is unconstitutional to cut it because they exercised a constitutional right.
This is not even slightly controversial. It’s plain, obvious law.
Even assuming that their visas cannot be revoked for engaging in the protests supporting a terrorist organization, the government can still deport them and let them file their legal challenges from outside the country. It’ll take several years for each case to file its way through the courts…
To quote a former-policeman friend, “sometimes we can’t hold em, but we can still take them for a ride downtown.”
No, it can’t deport them. They will file for habeas as soon as they are arrested, and the court will order them released, enjoin the deportation, and throw any officer who defies the order into a cell.
Yes, we can deport them. You are wrong.
No, you cannot. Any officer who does so risks imprisonment himself, and a massive civil rights lawsuit in which he will lose his house and pension, because he will not have qualified immunity.
I would think if they were the ones who cause chaos by taking over buildings, building compounds, and attacking others, then there are grounds to deport them. Those acts were illegal, thus they broke US laws. If they’re here and discussing the topic peacefully, that’s a different story. As soon as they become disruptive, adios.
Of course those who broke the law can be deported. That’s not controversial. But find any mention of lawbreaking in this post, or in Rubio’s statement, or in any coverage of this story. It’s not there. Rubio explicitly said that he wants to revoke visas simply and for no other reason than that the person is a supporter of Hamas. “If you could not come in because you’re a supporter of Hamas, you should not be able to stay on a visa because you’re a supporter of Hamas.” And that is unconstitutional.
You don’t have to be convicted of breaking the law to have a visa revoked. Even if the charges are dropped you can be subject to a Prudential Revocation (9 FAM 403.11-5(B)). Derogatory information from law enforcement, intelligence agency or other government officials of just about any type such as attending a rally calling for the death or destruction of a foreign ally of the US, actions protected by the 1st Amendment for American Citizens, are grounds for revocation if the Dept of State decides to do it. The person subject to the revocation can appeal but good luck with that. They may get a waver to remain in the US without a Visa, for example to complete studies at a university, but upon graduation are shown the door. If they leave for any time they can be denied reentry. If they have a Visa and leave for any reason, the Visa can be revoked and they will be denied reentry. Pretty simple stuff.
Bullshit. Utter bullshit, and you know it. What do you mean by “actions protected by the 1st Amendment for American Citizens”? You can’t possibly be asserting that the first amendment only protects US citizens! The 14th amendment clearly says that it protects ALL PERSONS. Aliens, even illegal ones, let alone those here on valid visas, have the exact same first amendment rights as any citizen.
And no, it is completely unconstitutional for the government to take any action to punish someone for exercising a constitutional right. That’s what you seem not to understand. If something is a right the government may not do anything to punish it. And that includes even things like cutting government funding, let alone canceling someone’s visa and deporting them.