US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday (March 27) that the State Department may have revoked more than 300 visas, warning that the Trump administration is actively targeting "these lunatics".
His remarks came just days after Washington detained and revoked the visa of a Turkish student at Tufts University.
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His remarks came just days after Washington detained and revoked the visa of a Turkish student at Tufts University.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The U.S. State Department may have revoked over 300 student and visitor visas, with Secretary
00:07Marco Rubio stating that he personally approved each action as the Trump administration sought
00:12to remove what he called, these lunatics.
00:16You're not entitled to a visa, nobody is entitled to a visa in any other country.
00:19They can determine it and they can revoke it at any time they want.
00:22Now, I think it's important, there's a clear distinction between protesting against
00:27democratic order and protesting in favor of groups that advocate the slaughter and murder
00:33of innocent people, which is what many of these groups are supportive of.
00:37Beyond that, these groups are not just taking over, these are not sit-ins we're talking
00:42about.
00:43We are talking about buildings that have been vandalized, defaced for months on end in some
00:50cases.
00:51We're just not going to continue to allow it.
00:53Rubio's comments on Thursday came in response to a question about Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish
00:58student who was detained in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Tuesday by masked and plainclothes agents.
01:05The top U.S. diplomat confirmed that the State Department had revoked Ozturk's visa, but
01:11did not specify what actions led to the decision.
01:14When pressed, Rubio stated that Washington would rescind visas if students engaged in
01:20activities such as vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings,
01:26or creating a ruckus.
01:28Ozturk's detention is the latest in a series of actions by the Trump administration targeting
01:34foreign students who have voiced support for Palestinians amid Israel's war in Gaza.
01:40Her arrest came a year after she co-authored an opinion piece in the Tufts Daily criticizing
01:45the university's stance on divestment from companies linked to Israel and its acknowledgment
01:50of what she described as the Palestinian genocide.
01:54Following her arrest, Ozturk's lawyer filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of her
01:59detention.
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