US reportedly will use AI to revoke visas from students perceived to be pro-Hamas
In first, Fox News says State Department canceled visa of student who took part in ‘Hamas-supporting disruptions’; Rubio: ‘Zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists’
The US State Department will use artificial intelligence to revoke visas of foreign students who it perceives as supporters of Palestinian terror group Hamas, Axios reported on Thursday, citing senior State Department officials.
Fox News separately reported the State Department revoked the visa of a student who allegedly participated in what the department termed as “Hamas-supporting disruptions.” The revocation marked the first such action, according to the report.
The State Department was working with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, according to Axios.
The State Department did not comment directly on the reports but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media that “those who support designated terrorist organizations, including Hamas, threaten our national security. The United States has zero tolerance for foreign visitors who support terrorists.”
“Violators of US law — including international students — face visa denial or revocation, and deportation,” he added.
The other two departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January to combat antisemitism and has pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel that have been ongoing for months amid the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terror onslaught.
The AI-fueled “Catch and Revoke” effort will include AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders’ social media accounts, Axios reported.
Axios said officials were checking news reports of demonstrations against Israel’s policies and Jewish students’ lawsuits highlighting foreign nationals allegedly engaging in antisemitism.
The Fox News report did not mention any details about the person whose visa was revoked except that it was revoked on Wednesday, that the person was a university student and that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement will proceed with removing that person from the country. It cited a State Department spokesperson.
Trump has said he will stop federal funding for educational institutions that allow what he called illegal protests.
“Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or … arrested,” Trump said on Tuesday.
The US Constitution’s First Amendment protects freedom of speech and assembly. Free speech advocates like the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and pro-Palestinian groups expressed alarm over the Axios report.
AI tools “cannot be relied on to parse the nuances of expression about complex and contested matters like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Sarah McLaughlin, a scholar at the foundation, said.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said the reported developments “signal an alarming erosion of constitutionally protected free speech and privacy rights.”
