US says it has canceled at least 300 student visas and hopes to revoke more

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a press conference held at Georgetown American University in Guyana on March 27, 2025. (Reuters/Yonhap)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the US has canceled the visas of at least 300 foreign students linked to pro-Palestinian activities.

“It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” said Rubio during a press conference while on a visit to the South American country of Guyana.

“At some point I hope we run out because we’ve gotten rid of all of them,” Rubio added.

“Every country in the world has a right to decide who comes in as a visitor and who doesn’t,” Rubio went on to say. “If you apply for a visa to enter the United States [. . . to do] things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa.”

The US political news site Axios quoted government officials as saying the Trump administration is looking into the option of blocking universities from accepting more foreign students if too many are “pro-Hamas.”

Starting with the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of Columbia University who had handled press relations and university negotiations for anti-war protestors at the university, the Trump administration has been arresting and deporting a number of students and researchers who took part in the pro-Palestinian demonstrations or who have openly criticized Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

The push to cancel visas is impacting not only foreign students, but also legal permanent residents.

The US authorities recently sought to arrest and deport Yunseo Chung, a green card holder of South Korean nationality, but a US federal court has halted those efforts.

By Kim Won-chul, Washington correspondent

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