By Yasin Gungor
ISTANBUL (AA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday vowed to deny visas to individuals involved in “pro-terror riots” and cancel visas for those already in the country.
“If you are coming to the U.S. to join pro-terror riots, we will deny you a visa. And if you do that after lying your way into our country, we will cancel your visa and send you home,” Rubio wrote on X.
The announcement follows the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate, by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Khalil’s detention, part of a broader crackdown on campus activism, came after an executive order by President Donald Trump targeting “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”
Separately, federal agents arrested Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian student who participated in protests at Columbia University last spring, for alleged visa violations.
It came after the self-deportation of Ranjani Srinivasan, a Columbia doctoral student accused of supporting Hamas.
The Trump administration’s actions have sparked debate over free speech and immigration enforcement, with critics accusing the government of targeting political dissent.
The crackdown aligns with Trump’s broader efforts to restrict pro-Palestinian advocacy, which they falsely label as pro-Hamas activities, amid Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 48,500 people, mostly women and children, since October 2023.