Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reiterated calls to revoke student visas for those who participate in anti-Israel protests on college campuses.
Just days after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, Republicans began publicly calling on President Joe Biden to revoke the visas of foreign college students if they expressed pro-Hamas sentiments.
Since then, protests at universities have increased tenfold – with instances of threats of violence – and some universities are warning Jewish students and faculty to stay away from campus for their own safety.
“I saw another video of a Jewish student who had to call the police; he basically had to shame the police into escorting him so he could go to an area of the university where he had every right to be because of these zombies, these anti-Semites. on the left, crazy people that the president should have been very firm with,” Rubio told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream.
The senator is also doubling down on his calls for students who are not U.S. citizens to be sent back to their countries if they participate in these widespread demonstrations.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reiterated months-long calls by Republicans to revoke the visas of international students who support Hamas terrorists operating from Gaza in the war with Israel.
Students on college campuses across the United States have set up pro-Palestinian camps and rallies over the past few weeks to intensify calls for a ceasefire from Israel. Pictured: Protesters participate in prayer at the anti-Israel camp at George Washington University in DC on Friday, May 3.
But he claims Biden is not taking action even after seven months of war because he is “weak” and “weak.”
‘Joe Biden should have said from the beginning, as I asked him to do in October, if… you’re not an American, you’re here on a visa and you’re here to teach or you’re here. “You go to school and you’re there singing in the name of Hamas and Hezbollah and these terrorist groups… you should have your visa revoked and eliminated,” Rubio said.
He listed examples of what he claims are atrocities committed during these demonstrations, including the defacing of the George Washington statue at GW University in Washington, DC.
The Republican added that any non-citizen with a student or professor visa who removes American flags and flies Palestinian flags should be expelled.
While several universities have experienced disruptive demonstrations, Columbia University is arguably the best-known example of clashes between student protesters and their administrators, as well as Republican lawmakers.
The students set up camp on the New York City campus and refused to tear it down even after threats of police action to evict them.
Rubio says the protesters “hate America” and if they have visas, they should have them revoked immediately and then expelled from the country.
‘[Biden] “We should have been very clear about which side we are on from the beginning,” the senator told Fox on Sunday morning, adding: “Look, there is a group of Democratic donors, major Democratic donors who are behind the groups that fund all this.’
Protesters join arms in front of Hamilton Hall to block students inside the Columbia University building on April 30.
Just weeks after Hamas’ initial attack on Israel, 19 Republican lawmakers joined forces to call for the visas of foreign students who expressed support for the terrorist group to be revoked.
“We write to request information regarding the potentially illegal presence on U.S. soil of nonimmigrant foreign nationals who have supported terrorist activities,” they said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The White House responded at the time, warning that the proposals would not pass First Amendment free speech protections.
‘I would just tell them that you don’t have to agree with every sentiment expressed in a free country like this to defend the idea of the First Amendment and the idea of peaceful protest. I’ll leave it at that,’ White House national security spokesman John Kirby said at the time.
