For Immediate Release:
November 9, 2023
For press inquiries only, contact:
Amanda Priest (334) 322-5694
Cameron Mixon (334) 242-7491
(Montgomery) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sent a 20-state letter to President Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas calling for the prompt revocation of student visas for those who are found to have endorsed terror activity or provided material support to foreign terrorist organizations.
“Any foreign national on a student visa who supports or assists terrorist activity is in violation of the law and should have their visas immediately revoked,” said Attorney General Marshall. “It is a privilege for foreign students to receive sponsored visas. Those who celebrate Hamas and the mass murder of innocent Israeli woman and children should lose their access to the privileges and safety that our great country provides.”
Since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, killing and kidnapping of innocent men, women, children and babies, college campuses have become a hotbed of antisemitic activity and threats of violence against the Jewish community. One group, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which has been linked to both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, issued a “call to action” asking its college chapters to hold demonstrations on campuses across the country.
The Immigration and Nationality Act provides that “[a]ny alien who … endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization” is “ineligible to receive [a] visa and ineligible to be admitted to the United States.” 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(i)(VII). Additionally, anyone who “knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so” commits a federal crime. 18 U.S.C. 2339B(a)(1).
Attorney General Marshall signed on to the Arkansas-led letter that was signed on to by attorneys general of the following states: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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