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Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott said that foreign students studying at U.S. colleges who are supporting Hamas in its ongoing conflict with Israel should be deported. The South Carolina senator appeared on Fox News on Wednesday, October 25, and shared his opinion on the matter with the host Neil Cavuto.
Tim said that U.S. students who are endorsing “Jewish genocide” and are “advocating for murder” should be expelled from campus. He added:
“Those folks who are on a visa should be taken — deported from our country.”
The senator continued that when someone encourages the elimination of an entire race, they should face consequences. Tim stated that expelling and deporting those students supporting Hamas should be consequential for them and their universities.
While some netizens supported Tim Scott's call for deportation, others opposed his opinions. One X user commented on his video on the same and asked him what fight he was leading as he claimed in the caption.
Debate ensues as Tim Scott says foreign students supporting Hamas should be deported
Tim shared the video of him speaking on the matter and people flocked to the comments to share their opinions. A few people mentioned the right to 'free speech' and criticized the senator for wanting to punish people on its basis.
However, some others supported Scott and agreed that foreign students siding with Hamas should be deported.
Scott also criticized President Biden’s request for a $100 billion supplementary budget, among which $14 billion is intended for Israel. He said that the funds for Israel should not be intertwined with other issues, opining that the focus of the funding should be solely on Israel and that the U.S. should arrange for a “stand-alone” package for them.
The South Carolina senator added:
“We know that that would unite the vast majority of the House and the Senate, and the president could sign it.”
Tim Scott's other controversial statement
Tim also expressed a similar sentiment on Wednesday, October 25, while quoting @StopAntisemitism's post on X where the non-profit organization shared images of antisemitic messages projected on the walls of George Washington University's library building. Tim wrote that if a foreign national was behind those messages, they should be deported, and if the college indulges the perpetrators, its taxpayer funding should be revoked.
Other Republicans calling for the deportation of foreign students and nationals supporting Hamas
Aside from Tim Scott, several Republicans have called for revoking visas of foreign citizens who are living in the United States and supporting Hamas and its allies. During an Iowa event last week, Ron DeSantis, one of Tim’s primary rivals in the 2024 GOP presidential election, vowed to cancel visas of foreign students if they are seen praising Hamas.
DeSantis also ordered the university system in Florida to disassemble Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestine student activism organization whose national leadership allegedly backed Hamas.
Senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton have both separately urged the Biden administration to arrange deportation for not just foreign students, but also foreign nationals who have publicly expressed their support for Hamas and other similar groups.
The senators further cited US immigration laws, according to which foreigners espousing or endorsing gravely hostile activity or persuading others to do the same, are ineligible to enter the United States.
