Day 11

Mass Student Visa Revocations Targeting Pro-Palestine Protesters

Since Trump's January 30, 2025 executive order to 'combat anti-Semitism on campuses,' roughly 1,700 international students had their visas revoked or student status terminated by April 2025. Secretary of State Rubio put the number of activism-related revocations at about 300; many other terminations followed minor legal infractions such as traffic violations, while a number targeted students who participated in pro-Palestine campus protests. The State Department deployed AI tools to screen social media for 'pro-Hamas' content and testified that criticizing the state of Israel could constitute grounds for visa revocation. Notable cases include the ICE arrest of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil (a green card holder) and the detention of Tufts doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk.