Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden’s administration to punish students involved in anti-Israel university protests many Republicans have characterized as pro-Hamas and antisemitic.
Numerous Senators and Representatives have petitioned the Department of Homeland Security to expel any foreign national suporting Hamas and advocating the genocide of Jews through denying Israel’s right to exist.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters across the country have projected antisemitic slogans such as “Glory to our martyrs” and “Free Palestine from the river to the sea'.”
The latter statement refers to the annihilation of the state of Israel in its modern form.
Anti-Israel protests have also often occupied and desecrated university buildings, trashed campus grounds with public encampments, injured innocent bystanders, and targeted Jewish students with threatening and antisemitic rhetoric.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) recently sent a letter to the heads of the Homeland Security and State Departments requesting they immediately revoke the visas of any foreign students found to be participating in such protests.
“For those international students who defied university orders, and police instruction, in favor of acting on pro-terrorist views, this should result in immediate expulsion from their host institution and our generous country. No questions asked,” said Senator Rubio.
Rubio further argued students involved in the protests were expressing support for Hamas, which is grounds for deportation given Hamas is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
”Let me be clear: espousing support for a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization is grounds for the termination of a visa and immediate removal from our country,” continued Rubio.
Other conservative lawmakers, such as Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and dozens of Representatives have similarly requested the federal government deport Hamas sympathizers.
President Biden has yet to state whether he will consider deporting individuals found to be in support for Hamas, but warned anti-semitic behavior has “no place in America.”
