Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) urged Department of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to deport any foreign national who has expressed support for Hamas since the militant group attacked Israel ten days ago.
“I write to urge you to immediately deport any foreign national—including and especially any alien on a student visa—that has expressed support for Hamas and its murderous attacks on Israel,” Cotton wrote to Mayorkas in a letter dated Monday. “These fifth columnists have no place in the United States.”
The term “fifth column” refers to a group of people that attempts to undermine a nation’s solidarity from within by supporting its enemies.
The Republican lawmaker cited the Immigration and Nationality Act as grounds for the immediate deportation of non-citizens from the country.
“Federal law is clear that any alien who ‘endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization’ is inadmissible and must be deported,” he said.
The request comes after many student groups on campuses across the country issued statements blaming Israel for Hamas terrorism.
On the same day the terrorist group attacked the Jewish nation, 34 student-led organizations at Harvard University signed a pro-Palestinian statement, blaming Israel for the atrocities. Other colleges such as George Washington University, the University of Virginia, and the University of California, Berkeley soon followed suit. At least nine of Harvard’s student groups have since retracted their signatures, and the statement has since then been deleted.
“Swiftly removing and permanently barring from future reentry any foreign student who signed onto or shared approvingly the anti-Semitic letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee on October 7 would be a good place to start,” the Arkansas senator’s letter read.
Many other students on college campuses have signed similar statements and organized anti-Israel protests in response to the Middle Eastern conflict. At Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., for example, students mourned the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Hamas, despite the latter’s initial attack a few days prior.
“The appalling explosion of anti-Semitism in the United States over the past few weeks should disturb anyone who shares American values,” Cotton concluded. “While American citizens may have a First Amendment right to speak disgusting vitriol if they so choose, no foreign national has a right to advocate for terrorism in the United States.”