Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Democrat Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Wednesday that he “proudly” revoked student visas from non-citizens who “stir up problems” during a tense exchange.
Jaypal accused Rubio of violating the First Amendment of U.S. Constitution by revoking visas from students who spewed pro-Hamas beliefs and built encampments on college campuses across the U.S. The Secretary of State stated that a person’s student visa is a privilege, not a right, and thus can be stripped from them if they plan to “tear [the U.S.] apart.”
“Where in the Constitution does it say that the Secretary of State can override the First Amendment protections of free speech?” Jayapal asked. “Is there a footnote that I missed somewhere?”
“There is no constitutional right to a student visa. A student visa is a privilege … There’s a statute which says the Secretary of State gets to determine whether someone is a threat,” Rubio said. “We deny visas everyday all over the world and we’ll continue [to do so].”
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Jayapal claimed that Rubio revoked the visa of Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, who wrote an op-ed showing clear support for Palestine in Tufts University’s newspaper. At the time of her arrest, Rubio told reporters that anyone who wishes to participate in movements involve “vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings [and] creating a ruckus” will not be allowed to remain in the U.S.
Rubio denied the Democrat congresswoman’s accusation that he revoked her visa simply because he did not like her op-ed. He stated that Ozturk is a “guest” in the U.S. who does not have an inherent right to study in the nation.
“So you revoked her student visa based on an op-ed which trumps the supreme law of the land which is the Constitution,” Jayapal said.
“If someone’s coming here to stir up problems on our campus, we’re gonna revoked their visa. They’re guests,” Rubio doubled down, with Jayapal repeating her accusations. “Yes, proudly, and we’ll do more. We’re gonna do more of them … I’m looking to get crazy people out of our country.”
The Democrat congresswoman attempted to conflate the South African refugees with the pro-Palestine students who are in the process of being returned to their countries. Rubio explained that the South African refugees were brought to the U.S. through an entirely different process and are not in the country on a visa.
The Secretary of State said in a March 28 statement that the administration is revoking the visas from “lunatics” who engaged in multi-week-long encampments on college campuses and forced Jewish students to flee the school for safety. Rubio notably revoked the visa of Mahmoud Khalil, a former student who participated in the anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University, which sparked outrage among anti-Trump activists and the left-wing media.
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