Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the State Department has revoked student visas for more than 300 people. This is because the White House is increasingly targeting foreign-born students whose main violation appears to be behaviourism.
Rubio warned that the administration was looking for “these madmen.” All over the country, scholars were picked up by masked immigration agents and detained in detention centers. Sometimes 1,000 miles from the house, there are few warnings and in many cases there is little detail as to why they are in custody.
“It could be over 300 at this point. We do that every day. Every time we find one of these crazy people, I take their visa,” Rubio said at a press conference in Guyana, and he was meeting with his leader.
Many of those rounded up by Trump officials are part of the Palestinian pro-movement that swept university campuses last year, and the administration has not publicly stated why these students are chosen over others, but at least those seeking US immigration and customs enforcement have appeared on a list created by extensive pro-Israel groups as targeted targets.
And many government allies were once again suspended, exiled or imprisoned after many of the government’s allies had taken telegraphs for months before he took office, attempting to expel students who openly defended Hamas and other US-designated terrorist groups, or participating in unauthorized campus protests.
The detention signaled President Donald Trump’s broader efforts to round out the actions of legal permanent residents, student visa holders and others who live and work legally in the United States, threatening to undermine basic American rights to freedom of speech, experts and supporters said.
“It can be unique about sending messages to the best and brightest people in the world. They traditionally flocked to their freedom, for their freedom, for their intellectual vitality, and now we don’t want you here.”
Trump’s “border emperor” Tom Homan has repeatedly stated that the administration’s deportation policy was “the worst.” This means that it prioritizes eliminating people with criminal history and those suspected of being a threat to national security. There are at least 400,000 non-citizens convicted of crimes in the United States, according to Department of Homeland Security data. The administration has sent over 200 Venezuelans to Salvador’s biggest security prison, claiming that migrants have gang ties, strongly denies families and lawyers of deported people.
Targeting students is a shift from their stated goal of chasing off criminals, said Kathleen Bush Joseph, a policy analyst for the US Immigration Policy Program at the Institute for Immigration Policy, a non-party think tank.
Bush Joseph said that “the government has a huge amount of discretion in granting or taking away immigration benefits, and that can be done on a number of reasons.”
The State Department uses immigration clauses dating back to the Cold War as justification for some student deportation cases, giving Rubio the power to deport non-citizens if their activities result in “potentially serious and unfavorable foreign policy consequences.” And US officials can revoke their student visa if the student deems a threat.
Some scholars have already been deported. The arrest continues. Just this week, immigration and customs enforcement arrested two students near their home. One was Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student from Iran who studies at the University of Alabama. ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Doroudi’s immigration status or why he was arrested. The university said the doctoral students were in custody but did not give any other details.
The other was Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts University.
Ozturk last year in the Tufts Student Newspaper, criticising how the university responded to student demands, co-authoring an essay criticizing the university, asking the school to “accept the Palestinian massacre” and “selling from companies with direct or indirect ties with Israel.” The essay written by four students and endorsed by the other 32 does not mention Hamas.
In response to questions about Ozturk’s arrest, Rubio questioned why “which country of the world” allows people to come to their country and disrupt university campuses.
“We’ve given you a visa to come and study and earn your degree. We’re not a social activist who tears our university campus,” he said.
“If you invite me into your house by saying, ‘Oh, I want to go to your house for dinner,’ I’ll come to your house and I’ll start spraying your kitchen with mud on your couch, I think you’re going to kick me out,” Rubio said.
Ozturk is being held at Louisiana detention facility. It is not clear where Drowdy was sent, and little is known about his case.
The National Council of Iranian-Americans requested information on Drowdi’s whereabouts and whether he was charged with a crime, calling for people who were “unfairly detained” to be released.
“Drowdy’s arrest comes shortly after the unfounded arrest of students and green cardholders in clear retaliation for speech and activism against war,” the group said.
Meanwhile, one far-right group has compiled the names and other identifications of students and experts who are said to promote hatred towards America, Israel and Jews on university campuses. Another group says they have given the Trump administration a list of hundreds of names to deport. Momodou Taal, at least one of the students listed on both sites, has been targeted by the Trump administration for expulsion and is being asked to surrender to the ice. Taal, a PhD visa holder, took part in the protest at Cornell University and expressed support for Palestinians in Gaza.
Among other students targeted by the Trump administration:
– 21-year-old Yunzeo Chung, a Columbia University student, participated in the protest. She is a legal permanent resident and does not require a student visa. She moved from Korea to the US as a child. She is fighting deportation in court, and last week a federal judge ruled that she cannot be detained as the legal case continues.
– Lequa Cordia, a Palestinian student who participated in a protest in Colombia last spring. Immigration officers say she was arrested by ice for overstaying a student’s visa.
– Badar Khan Suri, an Indian graduate student who taught on a student visa at Georgetown University when he was arrested this month. Suri filed a court petition in Alexandria, Virginia, hoping to be released from custody. According to the Ice Detainee Locator, he is being held at the Prairiland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. Homeland Security officials have said in X that they are “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media.”
– Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and graduate student at Columbia University, has been detained in pro-Palestinian activities on campus, immigration officials said. He is being held at the ice processing facility in Central Louisiana in Jena. A federal judge in New York recently ruled that his arrest and challenges to detention should be heard in New Jersey. The judge issued an order blocking the government from deporting Khalil as his case progressed. He is also facing another deportation case in Louisiana’s immigration court, with the next hearing set for early April.
Sama Sisai, one of Khalil’s lawyers, said lawyers and advocates are concerned that more students will be targeted and that many students may face criminal charges of their behaviorism if government officials cite concerns about potential terrorism.
“None of them have a criminal history,” Sisai said. “This is an attack on speech, and I think any kind of criminal claim that could come in the future will still be attached to the desire to cool free speech and will really say that certain speeches under this administration are not welcome and could be criminalized, detained or deported.”
And it is becoming increasingly unclear whether or not the university will support students in the face of growing efforts to deport students speaking out. Last week, Columbia University succumbed to Trump’s demands after threatening to cancel a federal research grant $400 million due to “an inaction in the face of permanent harassment of Jewish students.” The university agreed to wipe out change.
Ranjani Srinabasan, a doctoral student at Columbia University in India, has instead set out for Canada and is not bound by ice.
She told NBC News that she received a message from the US Consulate in Chennai, India on March 5 that her student visa had been revoked. She said she took part in several protests. On the night of a big demonstration when students occupy Hamilton Hall, she was about to reach the dorm and among dozens of people who were wiped out by police, but the charges were delayed, her lawyer said.
Two days later, the ice agent showed up at her apartment, but another person in the apartment with her didn’t let them in because they didn’t have a warrant, Srinavasan said. The agent returned the next day, but was unable to enter again. Srinavasan then received a message from the International Student Office that her visa had been revoked and she had to leave the US and school.
Up until then, she had graded her dissertations as a teaching assistant and had completed the past six months with a five-year doctoral degree. program.
“If I could open the door,” Srinivasan said. “I’m going to be in the detention centre now.”
