Mahmoud Khalil was arrested without warrant
Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested without a warrant, new documents show.
The Trump administration has a tough new message for foreigners in the United States: One strike, and you’re out.
Foreign nationals visiting or living in the country legally could lose their visa status if they run afoul of the law under the new and unforgiving so-called “catch and revoke” policy, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“There is now a one-strike policy: Catch-And-Revoke,” Rubio said in a social media post on May 2. “Whenever the government catches non-U.S. citizens breaking our laws, we will take action to revoke their status.”
The policy, originally announced April 30 in a newsletter authored by Rubio, suggests it will pursue immigrants convicted of criminal activity, including domestic violence and assault.
But the policy announcement didn’t specify the spectrum of crimes that could result in a visa revocation, and immigration experts questioned how it might be implemented, given the Trump administration’s far-reaching crackdown.
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, called the new policy “absurd” and contrary to U.S. immigration law.
“Wealthy, skilled people with other options will not settle in a country where their lives can be ruined for a speeding ticket or operating an illegal lemonade stand,” he said in a post on X.
The State Department issues non-immigrant visas to tourists, students, nannies, investors, the spouses and children of legal permanent residents, and other categories of visitors and residents.
Rubio said the State Department, under his leadership, “has now made clear that a visa is a privilege, not a right.”
Most recently, the administration aggressively targeted student visa holders who have protested Israel’s war in Gaza or voiced pro-Palestinian views. Students with minor violations, including traffic infractions, have also seen their visas terminated.
“They stripped student visas from people for speeding tickets,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, in a post on X. “Now they’re suggesting they’ll do the same to everyone.”
The administration in late April reversed its decision to cancel the visas of hundreds of foreign students nationwide after students and their supporters filed numerous court challenges.