More than 300 international students in US universities have reportedly received emails asking them to self-deport for being involved in pro-Palestine protests.
The Department of State (DOS) has emailed students for their involvement in rallying support for Palestine, both online and offline, and creating a ruckus on university campuses. Even students who have liked and shared pro-Palestine content have been deemed as complicit in the anarchy that ensued and directed to self-deport.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Thursday that the State Department may have revoked over 300 visas and emphasised that the Trump administration is actively searching “every day for these lunatics.”
His remarks came after Washington detained and revoked the visa of a Turkish student at Tufts University earlier this week.
The latest Open Doors report states that the U.S. has 1.5 million student visa holders, including 331,000 from India and 277,000 from China.
The crackdown is based on social media reviews conducted by the DOS, meaning that even new applicants for F (academic study), M (vocational study), or J (exchange) visas will be subjected to social media scrutiny.
Axios previously cited senior Justice and State Department officials stating that the Trump administration is considering barring certain colleges from enrolling foreign students if they are deemed excessively “pro-Hamas.”
This initiative stems from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “Catch and Revoke” program, which is now focused on students protesting the Gaza war. In just three weeks, over 300 foreign students have had their visas revoked under the program.
