Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned all foreign students that they will have their visas revoked and face deportation if they’re caught “creating a ruckus” on U.S. soil.
On Thursday, Rubio made Washington’s position on the removal of visas of “social activist” foreign students “abundantly clear.”
He responded following the removal of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk’s visa.
Rubio warned that anyone else found to be “creating a ruckus” will also have their visa revoked.
“I don’t care what movement you’re involved in,” he told reporters from a press event in Guyana.
“Why would any country in the world allow people to come and disrupt?
“We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist,” he added.
Rubio noted that Ozturk wrote a March 2024 op-ed criticizing the university’s ties to Israel amid the war in Gaza.
He viewed her actions as equivalent to those who “vandalize universities, harass students, take over buildings, [and] create a ruckus.”
While her op-ed never mentioned support for Hamas, the terrorist network, it did call on the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
The article evoked Hamas propaganda by demanding