Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday and had a fiery exchange with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) over the Tufts University student who was arrested by federal agents in March and later freed by a judge.
In her hectoring of Rubio, Jayapal repeatedly claims that the only thing this student did was write an op-ed for the Tufts student newspaper, but that’s simply not true. She expressed support for Hamas and engaged in activities showing support for Hamas, a terrorist organization.
Democrats are desperate to turn this into an argument about the First Amendment and free speech, which it isn’t. Also, where have all these progressives been over the years as left wing college students shouted down one conservative campus speaker after another?
Rubio pushed back on every one of her statements. He has made the Trump administration’s position on the issue of revoking student visas quite clear. We’re no longer putting up with fanaticism from foreign students who are guests in our country.
Bonchie of RedState provides a partial transcript:
RUBIO: She was a guest in the United States on a student visa. No one is entitled to a student visa. We deny visas every day, and we will revoke and consider revoking visas.JAYAPAL: You revoked her student visa based on an op-ed, which trumps the supreme law of the land, which is the Constitution.RUBIO: If someone is coming here to stir up problems on our campuses, we’re going to revoke their visa.JAYAPAL: She didn’t do any of that. She wrote an op-ed. She wrote an op-ed, and I’m talking to you about her particular case.RUBIO: That’s her lawyer’s claims and your claims. Those are not the facts.JAYAPAL: Reclaiming my time. You revoked her student visa because she wrote an op-ed.RUBIO: Yes, proudly…JAYAPAL: Would you revoke…RUBIO: And we’re going to do more for them. We are going to revoke the visa of anyone who’s in the country as a guest who’s here to stir up trouble.JAYAPAL: Are you going to revoke the visa of somebody who made that statement (crosstalk)?RUBIO: I’m looking to get crazy people out of our country.
You can watch the full exchange below:
People have noticed the change in Rubio.
Jayapal’s position might be stronger if the left had stood up for free speech on campus just once over the last decade. Rubio’s position is rock solid. No foreign students have a ‘right’ to be in the United States, and rotten guests will be shown the door.
Featured image via YouTube.
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