Twenty state AGs push for removal of foreign student visa holders who support Hamas

A coalition of 20 state attorneys general are calling for the prompt removal of foreign student visa holders who endorsed terror activity.

The state attorneys general sent a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas calling for the removal of foreign student visa holders who have provided material support to foreign terrorist organizations.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is a member of the coalition responding to the fact that college campuses have become hotbeds for antisemitic activity and threats of violence against Jewish students and people at a time when Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) issued a “call to action” asking its college chapters to hold demonstrations on campuses across the country.

SJP has been linked to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, two entities designated by the U.S. Department of State as “foreign terrorist organizations” since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,400 men, women, children and babies and 240 were taken captive.

“The terrorist attack on Israel cannot be justified or rationalized. Supporting or endorsing the terrorist organizations who committed the acts is not only immoral, but un-American and peddles dangerous misinformation. Foreign student visa holders endorsing or supporting terrorist organizations do not deserve the privilege and opportunity provided to them,” Miyares said.

The Immigration and Nationality Act provides that “[a]ny alien who … endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization” is “ineligible to receive [a] visa[] and ineligible to be admitted to the United States.” 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(i)(VII). Additionally, anyone who “knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization or attempts or conspires to do so” commits a federal crime.