WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. has revoked as many as 300 visas and potentially more as the Trump administration ramps up its campaign to crack down on immigration, including foreign-born students who have engaged in political activism at America’s universities. 

“It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day,” Rubio told reporters at a news conference in Guyana. “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.”

What You Need To Know

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. has revoked as many as 300 visas and potentially more: “Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa," he said
  • Rubio’s remarks came as a few high profile instances of visas being revoked, including those of a Tufts University student and University of Alabama student just this week, have been in the spotlight but the 300 figure shed some light on how far-reaching the efforts have been
  • Later speaking to reporters traveling with him, however, Rubio clarified that he wasn’t sure what the actual number amounts to at this point, stressing it might be more than 300 because the State Department is “doing them every day"
  • He added that it includes “a combination” of visas, not just those of foreign-born students studying in the U.S.

The Trump administration has long pledged a swift mass deportation campaign, and within his first month back in office, President Donald Trump signed an order in which he vowed to “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

And Rubio’s remarks came as a few high-profile instances of visas being revoked, including those of a Tufts University student and a University of Alabama student this week, have been in the spotlight. But the 300 figure shed some light on how far-reaching the efforts have been. 

“I think it’s crazy — I think it’s stupid for any country in the world to welcome people into their country that are going to go to their universities as visitors — they’re visitors — and say, 'I’m going to your universities to start a riot, I’m going to your universities to take over a library and harass people,'” Rubio said. 

Later speaking to reporters traveling with him, however, Rubio clarified that he wasn’t sure what the actual number of revoked visas is at this point.

He added that it includes “a combination” of visas, not just those of foreign-born students studying in the U.S.

Rubio said he thinks “there might be a few” visas that have been revoked for students’ affiliations with other groups besides the pro-Palestinian movement, which swept across a number of America’s college campuses last year during former President Joe Biden’s administration, as many protested his support for Israel amid the war in Gaza. 

Nonetheless, America’s top diplomat made the administration’s hard line on foreign-born student activists studying in the U.S. on visas clear: “If they’re taking activities that are counter to our national interest, to our foreign policy, we’ll revoke the visa.”

He noted that once a visa is taken away, the person would be in the country illegally and must leave, also signaling that the administration has no intent of slowing down the effort.

“At some point I hope we run out because we’ve gotten rid of all of them," he said. "But we’re looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up."