U.S. State Dept to Use AI to Revoke Visas of Foreign Students with Alleged Ties to Hamas

[AndreasHG]

On 3/8/2025 at 8:45 AM, WDSmart said:

isn't this discrimination based on their political choices?

 

Hamas is designated a terrorist organization. So no, it is not discriminatory to kick out its supporters. It is just plain stupid to let them in.

[Evil Penevil]

 

On 3/8/2025 at 2:46 AM, jimmybcool said:

I suspect if a person is in country on a student visa and they engage in protests that promote terrorist groups and violence or threats to other groups that is reasonable grounds to terminate their visa and expel them.  Not sure of any nation on earth where this wouldn't be grounds for expulsion.

 

That's correct.  Revocation of student visas and student status is an administrative measure at the discretion of the U.S. government.  It's not subject to challenge or review in the U.S. court system.  The government doesn't even have to disclose the reason for denying or revoking a visa.  That's long-standing practice which has been upheld as Constitutional by the Supreme Court. 

 

Bottom line:  the U.S. government can revoke a student visa and order the removal of a foreign student for any reason it chooses.

 

The U.S.  has 1.2 million foreign students enrolled in its educational institutions.  Every day it orders the removal of dozens, if  not hundreds, of foreign students for violating the terms of their student visa.    Foreign students  must agree in writing  to respect the laws of the U.S. as well as the rules of the institution where they are enrolled.   They are free to take part in political demonstrations, but any illegal action would be grounds for visa revocation, whether in connection with a demonstration or otherwise.  

 

On 3/8/2025 at 9:16 PM, Eloquent pilgrim said:

More great news, as the Trump administration is immediately pulling $400m (£310m) of federal funding from Columbia University, saying it failed to fight antisemitism on campus.

A statement by four federal agencies said the funding cut was due to "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students

 

That is great news, but hopefully just the start.  Considering Columbia has  $5 billion in government grants,  only about 8% has been cut.  Columbia's total endowment in 2025 is $14.8 billion.  Columbia deserves to have funds cut as the admin refused to take action in response to blatant harassment of Jewish students.

 

The best news is that ICE agents have arrested  Mahmoud Khalil and the government is taking steps to revoke his  green card.  Khalil was the leader of the anti-Israel protests at Columbia and is the best-known Hamas supporter in the U.S.  He's also openly antisemitic. The Trump admin went after the top shark and not a small fish in the pro-Hamas pond.  

https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-15014bcbb921f21a9f704d5acdcae7a8