The US State Department announced on Monday that it has revoked 6,000 student visas since Secretary of State Marco Rubio assumed office seven months ago.
Rubio, cheered on by President Donald Trump’s right-wing supporters, has invoked an obscure law granting him authority to cancel visas for individuals deemed contrary to US foreign policy interests.
A State Department official said most of the revocations were linked to overstays and legal violations, including assault, burglary, drink-driving offences and alleged support for terrorism. About 4,000 of the cancellations involved breaches of the law. No breakdown by nationality was provided, but Rubio has pledged to target Chinese students in particular.
In March, Rubio boasted of revoking visas daily, describing student activists as “lunatics” and singling out pro-Palestinian protesters, whom he accused of anti-Semitism—allegations the students reject.
Two prominent cases have embarrassed the administration. Mahmoud Khalil, a legal US resident who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University, was freed by a judge in June and has since sued the government for alleged harassment. Similarly, Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University detained by masked agents after writing a critical piece on Israel, was released in May pending further hearings.
Rubio insists the administration has the power to issue and revoke visas without judicial oversight, arguing that foreign nationals are not protected by US constitutional free speech rights.