President Joe Biden’s White House has no plans to revoke the visas of those foreign students engaging in demonstrations across United States college campuses in defense of the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas and its attacks on Israel.
After a number of Republicans urged Biden’s State Department to revoke the visas of pro-Hamas foreign students who hold F-1 visas, National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Kirby said the administration will not do so.
An exchange at a White House briefing went as follows:
REPORTER: There’s been an uptick on the right among some Republicans who have called for students or foreign nationals who are demonstrating in some of these pro-Palestine demonstrations or, you know, allegedly pro-Hamas demonstrations to have their student visas pulled or to face deportation. What is the administration’s remark — response to those kinds of remarks and that kind of rhetoric? Is that an overreaction? [Emphasis added]
KIRBY: That … I would just tell you that you don’t have to agree with every sentiment that is expressed in a free country like this to stand by … the idea [of] the First Amendment and the idea of peaceful protest. I’ll leave it at that. [Emphasis added]
As Breitbart News reported, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) are leading a resolution urging the Biden administration to revoke the visas of foreign nationals in the U.S. who are involved in pro-Hamas demonstrations — especially those on F-1 student visas.
“To put the security of American citizens first, President Biden must immediately revoke the visas of those who support Hamas and other terrorist groups,” Blackburn said.
A participant holds a placard as students gather during a “Walkout to fight Genocide and Free Palestine” at Bruin Plaza at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) in Los Angeles on October 25, 2023. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
People take part in a demonstration in support of Palestinian people, in New York on October 21, 2023. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL.), Rick Scott (R-FL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Ted Budd (R-NC), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Cornyn (R-TX), and John Hoeven (R-ND) have signed the resolution.
Meanwhile, Rubio and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) have each written to top Biden officials at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pressing them to swiftly revoke visas and deport pro-Hamas foreign students.
“I write to urge you to immediately deport any foreign national — including and especially any alien on a student visa — that has expressed support for Hamas and its murderous attacks on Israel,” Cotton wrote to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“These fifth-columnists have no place in the United States,” Cotton wrote.
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In Fiscal Year 2022, alone, the federal government provided green cards and nonimmigrant visas, including F-1 student visas, to foreign nationals from some of the most pro-Hamas countries in the world.
For example, more than 8,300 Iranians arrived in the U.S. last year on nonimmigrant visas. In addition, the government gave more than 8,000 green cards to Iranians in Fiscal Year 2022 — including more than 800 who arrived on the Diversity Visa Lottery and more than 520 who arrived as refugees.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.