The secretary of state said he was trying to expel “crazies” who took part in student movements, as well as criminals. Some of them are permanent residents of the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has estimated that he may have signed more than 300 letters revoking the visas of students, visitors and others in an effort to remove them from the United States because of their foreign policy views or criminal activity.
He has been signing visa revocation letters every day since taking office in late January, Mr. Rubio told reporters Thursday night aboard an Air Force passenger jet flying between Paramaribo, Suriname, and Miami, where he lives with his family. Mr. Rubio was wrapping up a three-nation tour of the Caribbean and South America.
“I don't really know, first of all, these are student visas,” he said. “It's a combination of visas. They are guests of the country. If they take actions that are contrary to our foreign, our national interests, our foreign policy, we will cancel the visa.”
He said he reviewed each case himself before signing off on the actions that would be taken by immigration agents. Mr. Rubio said a visa holder convicted of a crime while in the United States should automatically lose his visa. He also expels permanent residents of the United States, stripping them of their green cards.
“My standard is: If we knew this information about them before we gave them a visa, would we allow them in?” he said. “And if the answer is no, then we revoke the visa.”
Mr. Rubio declined to say how the cases came to his desk. “We’re not going to talk about the process by which we identify them because obviously we’re looking for more people,” he said.
