Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) argued the United States has no obligation to keep VISA students within the country, specifically those who engage in antisemitism on college campuses.
Cruz’s comment comes after the Trump administration sought to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student on a green card from Syria, who is being detained as legal fights over his deportation continue. In assessing the Trump administration’s actions against Khalil, who was a part of Columbia University’s encampments in April 2024, Cruz sternly warned that anyone who hates the U.S. or is “an antisemitic bigot” should not come to the country, adding that those on student VISAs are not protected under the nation’s First Amendment.
“Coming to this country on a VISA is a permissive matter,” Cruz argued on Fox News’s The Story with Martha MacCallum. “It is a matter of grace, and we’re not going to bring in people who hate America. We’re not going to bring in people who terrorize their fellow students, who attack Jewish students, who threaten Jewish students, who burn American flags. We have no obligation to let people in who hate this country.”
Cruz then expressed gratitude to the Trump administration for canceling grants to Columbia University, arguing that school administrators “embraced” the pro-Hamas protests taking place on campus grounds last year. He was also enthusiastic that “this will not be the only person deported,” contending that those protesting Kahlil’s imprisonment are partaking in “self-reporting” since many are also on student VISAs.
The Texas senator reiterated that the U.S.’s First Amendment protects citizens of the U.S., not foreign nationals in the country, “on grace.” He added that those who abuse the grace given them should get “a one-way ticket home.”
Khalil’s deportation has been temporarily blocked by New York Judge Jesse Furman, who ruled that Khalil cannot be deported until a court rules on a petition challenging the move.
Regarding the Trump administration canceling $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, the Justice Department Task Force to Combat Antisemitism head Leo Terrell argued that canceling funding for the school is its “strongest signal” to show that antisemitism will not be tolerated.
On Monday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s Office of Civil Rights warned 60 universities that they would face consequences if they did not take steps to protect Jewish students.
