Marco Rubio says over 300 visas revoked in crackdown on anti-Israel activism

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he cancelled the visas of more than 300 student activists.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling pro-Palestine student activists 'lunatics,' said he has cancelled over 300 visas in a crackdown on anti-Israel activism, vowing to continue despite criticism over the detention of a student at an American university.

Rubio, a strong supporter of Israel, said he personally approved each visa revocation and dismissed concerns about violating US free speech protections.

Asked about reports on the number of revoked visas, mostly affecting students, Rubio responded, "Maybe more than 300 at this point. We do it every day."

"Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas," he told reporters in Guyana. "At some point, I hope we run out because we've gotten rid of them."

Since returning to the White House on January 20, President Donald Trump has taken aggressive action against student activists and universities over protests sparked by the Gaza war.

A video that circulated earlier this week showed masked, plain-clothed figures detaining 30-year-old Turkish graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk near Tufts University in Massachusetts. Ozturk had written an op-ed in a student newspaper condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza as "genocide" and now faces deportation.

Immigration lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai stated that Ozturk was taken to a detention center in Louisiana despite a court order keeping her in Massachusetts and was denied legal representation.

"Masked DHS agents unlawfully arrested my client," she said, referring to the Department of Homeland Security.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts, accused the Trump administration of attempting to "abduct students with legal status."

"This is a horrifying violation of Rumeysa's constitutional rights to due process and free speech. She must be immediately released," Pressley said.

Rubio declined to provide details on Ozturk’s visa revocation but insisted she met the criteria.

"I would caution you against solely going off of what the media has been to identify" for the visa decision, he told reporters on his flight to Miami.

He described visas as a "gift" granted at the State Department’s discretion, not subject to judicial review, and criticized allowing students who "support a group that just slaughtered babies," referring to Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Asked whether the administration would revoke visas for all dissenting views, Rubio responded, "If you're complaining about paper straws, then we're obviously not going to yank a visa over that."

"The overwhelming majority of student visas in this country will not be revoked," he added.

The most high-profile case is that of Mahmoud Khalil, who led protests at Columbia University in New York. Despite being a US permanent resident, he was taken to Louisiana ahead of deportation proceedings. His supporters dispute claims that he supports Hamas and argue he has spoken against antisemitism.

US authorities have since pointed to technicalities in his original student visa.

Rubio maintains that student activism has made campuses intolerable for Jewish students.

"If you tell us that the reason why you're coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we're not going to give you a visa," he said in Guyana.