Republican Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to begin deporting foreign nationals who express support for Hamas and the terrorist group’s attacks on Israel.
On Monday, Cotton sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, calling for deportations of pro-Hamas individuals, including those in the country on student visas.
Cotton is demanding that the department takes immediate action to remove the pro-Hamas foreign nationals who have “no place” in America.
“I write to urge you to immediately deport any foreign national—including and especially any alien on a student visa—that has expressed support for Hamas and its murderous attacks on Israel,” Cotton wrote.
“These fifth-columnists have no place in the United States.”
More than 4,200 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since Hamas launched its October 7 attack against the Jewish State.
The brutal assault has led to retaliatory action from Israeli forces.
Thousands more have been wounded, and many others have been taken hostage by Hamas and raped, tortured, and murdered.
“Federal law is clear that any alien who ‘endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization’ is inadmissible and must be deported,” Cotton continued.
The letter comes after at least several dozen pro-Hamas student groups at various colleges and universities across the country released statements and organized demonstrations supporting the terror attacks against Israel.
The show of support for Hamas comes even as many of the universities themselves condemned the acts of terrorism.
Shortly after the attack on Oct. 7, Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups released a statement signed by about 30 student organizations.
The statement argues that Israel is “entirely responsible” for being attacked by Hamas.
“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the statement reads.
Students for Justice in Palestine chapters and other pro-Palestinian student groups at many other universities, including George Washington University, the University of Virginia, and the University of California, Berkley, also released similar statements on the weekend of Hamas’s surprise attack.
The statement by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups was later deleted after student organizations began removing their signatures amid bipartisan backlash.
Some CEOs have also demanded the names of the students who signed the statement.
“Swiftly removing and permanently barring from future reentry any foreign student who signed onto or shared approvingly the anti-Semitic letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee on October 7 would be a good place to start,” Cotton told Mayorkas in his letter.
Many other pro-Palestinian student groups at institutions across the U.S. still have their statements posted online.
Some continue to participate in protests celebrating Hamas’s terror attack.
“The appalling explosion of anti-Semitism in the United States over the past few weeks should disturb anyone who shares American values,” Cotton wrote.
“While American citizens may have a First Amendment right to speak disgusting vitriol if they so choose, no foreign national has a right to advocate for terrorism in the United States.”
