Protesters from abroad put student visas at risk; Biden urged to act against terrorist sympathizers

Some of those involved in the unruly campus protests against Israel are guests of the U.S. on foreign student visas, and pressure is mounting on President Biden to start revoking those visas to help schools regain control of their grounds.

Experts said the administration has the tools, and Republicans are demanding that Mr. Biden show the will.

“We put people on planes and send them to El Salvador for being here illegally. Why can’t we put people on planes and send them back for being arrested for violence on university campuses?” said Emilio Gonzalez, who ran U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the George W. Bush administration. “The federal government has got to want to act.”

The idea is gaining steam among congressional Republicans who say some of the protests are fueled by antisemitism.

“There’s a sure way to stop these pro-Hamas protesters in their tracks: treat them like the terrorist sympathizers they are and deport those on student visas,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican. “Joe Biden needs to stop pandering to his far-left base and start taking the morally correct action as the president of the United States to defend Jewish students on college campuses.”

The idea of revoking visas arose during the early weeks after Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7 rampage in Israel. Pro-Palestinian groups on campuses celebrated the attack and complained about Israel’s retaliation.

Civil liberties advocates said at the time that students shouldn’t be punished for protected free speech, but the campus demonstrations have since devolved into chaos. Students have invaded school buildings and clashed with police deployed to maintain control or to oust them from what authorities say are illegal occupations or encampments.

The protests have resulted in thousands of arrests, cancellations of classes and, as of Monday, the cancellation of Columbia University’s large graduation ceremony.

Foreign students have been identified as participants in the unrest nationwide, drawing new attention to the issue of visas.

Experts said foreign student protesters might be jeopardizing their status in four ways.

If they are arrested on charges of criminal behavior, the government can send them to deportation proceedings and ask an immigration judge to order them removed.

Those whose behavior gets them expelled or suspended for a significant length of time could be ruled in violation of the terms of their visa, which stipulates that they are in the U.S. to attend classes.

If they are not going to class because they are suspended, they can be ousted, said Matthew J. O’Brien, director of investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute.

“It’s very straightforward,” Mr. O’Brien said. “All ICE has to do is fill out the appropriate paperwork if the person has fallen out of status and say their status was revoked and give them a bags-and-tags order and tell them it’s time to go.”

Students may also violate their visas just by participating in pro-Hamas rallies if the government decides that constitutes a security risk, Mr. O’Brien said.

“When you have people doing things like overtly supporting terrorist groups that hate the United States and threatening Jewish students, yeah, I think you’re there,” said Mr. O’Brien, who served as an immigration judge and worked at USCIS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Department of Homeland Security said ousting someone in the U.S. on a student visa would require proceedings before an immigration judge.

Homeland Security said nobody had been terminated from their student system as of May 1.

The State Department could revoke the visa, but that wouldn’t mean deportation, Homeland Security said.

“Visa revocations are within the purview of the Department of State and when a student’s visa is revoked it is done as ‘prudentially,’ meaning it only prevents re-entry into the United States on that visa; it does not provide an independent basis for removal,” the department said in a statement.

The Washington Times has reached out to the State Department for this report.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators said there is no way of knowing how many international students are protesting. It said students should contact their school conduct offices if they have questions about what their institutions allow.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it is aware of the calls for action against student visas. It urged schools and the government to exercise restraint but cautioned students that even wrongful accusations could create problems for their visas.

“Students have to be careful. No student should be afraid to speak up against the genocide or protest, but they also have to be very vigilant and understand the risks,” Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR’s deputy director, told The Times. “If you’re going into a protest knowing you’re engaging in civil disobedience and going to be arrested, you should know that in advance.”

He said schools must be aware of the stakes.

“Schools have a moral obligation to exercise extreme restraint when suspending students and when calling police on students, especially students here on a visa to get an education. Once you ring that bell, it’s very difficult to unring it.”

Mr. Gonzalez said universities may be reluctant to take action because they have a financial stake in foreign students.

“The dirty little secret is the fact that a lot of these folks are paying the full ride, so of course the schools are going to do everything they can to make sure they don’t get expelled because that’s money the universities are losing,” Mr. Gonzalez said.

Columbia University, the scene of high-profile clashes, has 18% international students, according to U.S. News & World Report’s rankings.

George Washington University, which has sought help from city police in ousting what it calls “an illegal and potentially dangerous” encampment, has about 3,500 international students among its nearly 26,000 student body.

“People try and dance around this like it’s freedom of expression,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “No, if you are protesting on behalf of Hamas and get arrested, you have just violated your visa.”