US State Department Says It Could Revoke Visas of Hamas Supporters

Passports, visas, and identification cards as seen in a file photo. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

The U.S. State Department has the authority to revoke the visas of Hamas supporters who are in the United States amid the Israel–Hamas conflict, according to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

“State Department confirms they have the power to revoke the visas of Hamas supporters and deport them. Now they need to do it,” Mr. Rubio wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, including a statement issued by the State Department confirming that it has the ability to take action against such individuals.

The agency hasn’t issued a public comment about the statement sent to the Republican senator. The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment on Nov. 17 by press time.

“The Department of State also has broad authority under the [Immigration and Nationality Act] to revoke visas. We exercise the authority when there’s information or evidence indicating a visa holder may be ineligible for a U.S. visa,” the agency said in its Nov. 15 letter to Mr. Rubio.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) mandates that individuals who have engaged in terrorist activity be barred from entering the United States. It also applies to individuals who have called on others to “endorse or support one of these named terrorist groups.” Hamas has been listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department and other federal agencies for decades.

“Even after issuance of a visa, the Department of State works closely with the Department of Homeland Security and other partner agencies to ensure every visa applicant is continuously screened to ensure they remain eligible for travel to the United States,” the State Department’s letter to Mr. Rubio reads.

Related groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah are also designated as terrorist groups. However, the Houthi militant group based in Yemen was taken off the INA terrorist list in 2021 by the State Department, although the group later carried out what the State Department called a series of “terrorist attacks” in Saudi Arabia the next year.

On Oct. 15, Mr. Rubio sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and demanded that his department take action against noncitizens who are in the United States and back Hamas, which launched a series of attacks in Israel in October, sparking the conflict.

“I urge you to immediately use existing law to eradicate this hate from our country. In addition, I will be introducing legislation to provide further tools to ensure supporters of Hamas, and other [Foreign Terrorist Organizations], do not benefit from our country’s generosity,” the Republican from Florida wrote to the State Department.

Since the conflict began, pro-Palestinian demonstrations have erupted across U.S. cities and at university campuses, with some individuals explicitly supporting Hamas.

In an extreme example last week, some users of TikTok openly expressed support for a letter that was written by al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, penned following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The letter, in part, called for terrorist attacks against American civilians because of U.S. government support for Israel, among other causes.

On Oct. 10, the senator also responded to separate videos being spread on TikTok, owned by Chinese Communist Party-linked company ByteDance, and claimed that the app is intentionally favoring pro-Hamas content.

“The Marxist bias on TikTok reflects more than left-wing thought among millennials and Generation Z. It reflects the app’s subservience to the world’s most powerful Marxist regime: the Chinese Communist Party,” Mr. Rubio wrote for the Washington Examiner. Chinese diplomats haven’t condemned the Hamas attacks, and China has long been a buyer of Iranian oil.

In the wake of the Israel–Hamas conflict, Mr. Rubio and other lawmakers have called for the United States to take action against TikTok by either banning the platform or forcing ByteDance to sell it off. Notably, data show that the vast majority of TikTok users are under the age of 40.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 11, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Investigation

The calls come as the federal government has opened civil rights investigations on seven schools and universities over allegations of anti-Semitism or -Muslim sentiment since the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war.

The list includes three Ivy League institutions—Columbia, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania—along with Wellesley College in Massachusetts, Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, and Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. It also includes one K–12 school district, the Maize Unified School District in Kansas.

The Education Department announced the inquiries on Nov. 16, calling it part of the Biden administration’s effort to take “aggressive action” against discrimination. Schools found to have violated civil rights law can face penalties up to a total loss of federal money, although the vast majority of cases end in voluntary settlements.

Five of the investigations are in response to allegations of anti-Semitic harassment, while two are in response to allegations of anti-Muslim harassment, the department said. The agency didn’t disclose which schools faced which accusations. Details about individual complaints weren’t released.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.