The crackdown is allegedly aimed at students involved in campus activism. It has now expanded to include not just those who physically participated in protests, but also students who liked, shared, or commented on "anti-national" posts on social media.
The Trump administration recently revoked the visas of over 300 students, sparking panic among Indian and other international students in the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has further fueled concerns, suggesting that more student deportations may be imminent, TOI reported.
The crackdown is reportedly targeting students involved in campus activism. It now extends beyond those who physically participated in protests to include students who liked, shared, or commented on "anti-national" posts on social media.
“We’re looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up,” Rubio, known for his hardline approach to national security, said, implying that the students in question were engaged in disruptive activities, though he did not clarify the specific actions that led to the visa cancellations.
Rubio recently announced that the State Department may have revoked more than 300 visas of international students and warned that the Trump administration was looking every day for "these lunatics".
His remarks came in response to a question about Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student who was detained in Somerville, Massachusetts, outside of Boston, by masked and plainclothes agents. Her detention was the latest Trump administration action against a foreign student who had voiced support for Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza.
Rumeysa Ozturk, a Fulbright Scholar and doctoral student in Child Study and Human Development, was detained on Tuesday evening outside Tufts University in Somerville, Massachusetts, by agents in plain clothes.
Her arrest followed a year after she co-authored an opinion piece in The Tufts Daily criticizing the university's refusal to divest from companies linked to Israel, as well as its stance on Palestinian rights.
Ozturk라이브 바카라 lawyer, Mahsa Khanbabai, filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the detention, arguing that Ozturk라이브 바카라 right to free speech had been violated. Khanbabai said, "It appears the only thing she is being targeted for is her right to free speech."
While a federal judge in Boston intervened temporarily to prevent Ozturk라이브 바카라 removal from Massachusetts, the Department of Justice confirmed that she had already been transferred to Louisiana.
Ozturk라이브 바카라 supporters have raised alarm, claiming that her detention is the first known immigration arrest of a Boston-area student involved in pro-Palestinian activism under the Trump administration.
Critics of the crackdown argue that it represents an assault on free speech and academic freedom. These actions have been met with outrage from student groups, civil rights advocates, and some Jewish organizations, who believe the administration is conflating legitimate criticism of Israel라이브 바카라 policies with support for Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.
The State Department's move to revoke the F-1 visas of over 300 international students, many of whom have been vocal in their support for Palestinian rights, has reverberated across US college campuses. The F-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows international students to live in the United States while pursuing academic studies at accredited institutions.