US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that holding a US visa cannot be equated to a “birthright” and that the individuals holding them should be mindful of not breaking the visa terms. He added that those who commit crimes or undermine national security or public safety should be prepared for deportation.
“I don’t know when we’ve got it in our head that a visa is some sort of birthright. It is not,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on CBS News’s Face The Nation show.
He added, “It is a visitor into our country, and if you violate the terms of your visitation, you are going to leave.”
Rubio stated that the US does not want individuals who commit crimes or pose a threat to national security and public safety.
Crackdown over pro-Palestine protests
The statement follows immigration crackdown, deportation, and detention. Last week, an Indian national and a doctoral student at Columbia University, Ranjani Srinivasan, opted to self-deport through the CBP app after her visa was revoked. Rajani allegedly advocated “violence and terrorism”, a claim she has denied.
“I am not a terrorist sympathiser. So, I just find it kind of absurd,” she told CBC News.
As the second Trump administration continues with its crackdown on pro-Palestine protests, another Indian scholar at Georgetown University, Badar Khan Suri, was detained over ‘Hamas ties’. His deportation was barred by a US judge until further court proceedings.
Earlier, US Vice-President JD Vance, whose wife is an Indian-American, said that holding a Green Card does not grant an indefinite right to remain in the country. “For a green card holder, even if I might like that green card holder, he does not have an indefinite right to be in the United States of America,” Vance told Fox News.
Social media reactions
One Facebook user said, “That is certainly what other countries do! I have been an eye-witness to being in a foreign country and watched the officials arrest, and deport Americans who were mistakenly behaving as if the hosting country had no laws – after all, they thought, ‘we’re Americans’.”
“If someone has committed a crime and found guilty by the court, they must be sent home. I am sure no one has any problem with that,” joined another.
A third echoed Rubio’s sentiments, “America loves guests but when you misbehave, you’ll be asked to leave.”
“Completely agree with Secretary Rubio! A visa is on visitor status. Undermining our constitution and creating chaos is the reason for rescinding their visa status and returning them to their country of origin!” said yet another Internet user.