More than 300 student and visitor visas have been revoked by the Trump administration, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Thursday. The crackdown is reportedly aimed at foreign students engaged in campus activism, particularly around pro-Palestinian causes.
Rubio said visa revocations are occurring “every day” and described targeted students as “lunatics.” Some have been detained by ICE, including Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts, and Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian doctoral student in Alabama. Others, like Columbia’s Mahmoud Khalil and Georgetown’s Badar Khan Suri, are being held in ICE facilities.
Legal experts and immigrant rights advocates say the moves threaten free speech rights and represent a shift from the administration’s stated focus on removing individuals with criminal records.
At least one visa revocation letter cited a Cold War-era law allowing removal based on “adverse foreign policy consequences.” Rubio’s office also launched an AI-powered app called “Catch and Revoke” to identify students alleged to support U.S.-designated terrorist groups.
Emails instruct affected students to self-deport using a new app and warn of detention, fines, and future visa ineligibility.
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