The State Department has revoked the visa of a student who participated in protesting in favor of Hamas, a move in line with President Donald Trump‘s call for canceling visas of students involved in the anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses.
The State Department confirmed the matter with Fox News, without identifying the student or what university they attended due to “legal constraints.”
“Yesterday evening, we revoked the first visa of an alien who was previously cited for criminal behavior in connection with Hamas-supporting disruptions,” the State Department said. “This individual was a university student. ICE will proceed with removing this person from the country.”
The State Department reviewed over 100,000 student visas and none were revoked during the Biden administration, despite all the anti-Israel protests and disruptions on college campuses.
Trump has repeatedly called for foreign students attending American universities to have their visas revoked for supporting Hamas and other terror groups.
Upon taking office in January, he signed an executive order to combat antisemitism.
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“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump is quoted in a fact sheet issued by the White House. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
U.S. college campuses have been a hotbed for anti-Israel protests and disruptions, including vandalism, threats against Jewish students and violence against law enforcement.
“The Biden Administration turned a blind eye to this coordinated assault on public order; it simply refused to protect the civil rights of Jewish Americans, especially students,” the fact sheet states. “According to a December 2024 U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report on anti-Semitism, ‘the failure of our federal government departments and agencies is astounding.'”
On Thursday, Axios reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is launching an AI-fueled “Catch and Revoke” effort to cancel the visas of foreign students who appear to support designated terror groups.
“Those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security,” he wrote on X. “The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists. Violators of U.S. law — including international students — face visa denial or revocation, and deportation.”
