(USNewsMag.com) – In an Oct. 16 letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton demanded DHS take action to deport foreign nationals that have shown support for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel.
In the letter, Cotton wrote that “any foreign national” that has expressed support for Hamas, including those “on a student visa,” must be deported immediately, adding that they “have no place in the United States.”
Cotton wrote that foreign nationals that endorse or espouse “terrorist activity” or that support “a terrorist organization” are required to be deported according to federal law.
The letter to DHS comes after rallies have been held in cities across the United States in support of Palestine. At universities across the country, Students for Justice in Palestine chapters as well as other student groups that are pro-Palestinian have released statements and held demonstrations in support of the Hamas attack on Israel.
A statement signed by 30 student-led organizations at Harvard University said that the “Israeli regime” was “entirely responsible” for the “unfolding violence.” The letter was deleted after the CEO began demanding the names of the students who signed it. However, similar statements were released by student groups at the University of Virginia, George Washington University, the University of Virginia, and the University of California, Berkeley.
In his letter, Cotton wrote that a good place to start with deportations would be “any foreign student” that “signed onto or shared approvingly” the statements. He added that those students should be quickly removed and barred permanently from reentry into the country.
Cotton wrote that “no foreign national has a right to advocate for terrorism” in the U.S.
Over 1,400 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attack, including 27 Americans. At least 200 hostages were taken from Israel back to Gaza, with their location and condition unknown. There have been more than 4,000 Palestinians killed since Israel began airstrikes on Gaza following the attack.
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