Terry Turner

Marco Rubio: “Yeah. Let’s start with the baseline. No one is entitled to a student visa to enter the United States. No one. It’s not a constitutional right. It’s not guaranteed by law. Every day, consular officers deny visas for all kinds of reasons, suspicion of overstaying, criminal associations, whatever it may be. Visas are denied worldwide daily. No one is entitled to one. There’s a misconception that you’re automatically allowed a visa unless we find a reason to deny it. That’s not true. The burden of proof is the other way around. Now, if someone applies for a student visa and during the interview it becomes clear they support Hamas as a positive group, we probably wouldn’t let them in — and we shouldn’t. But if that question isn’t asked, and they enter the U.S., and later it becomes obvious they support Hamas, then their visa should be revoked. If we later discover information that would have led to denial in the first place, that’s grounds for revocation. It’s not in the national interest, or our foreign policy or national security interest, to bring people onto our campuses who aren’t just studying but are also promoting or excusing terrorist organizations committed to violence and destruction. So we have the right to deny visas before entry and revoke them after entry if someone’s presence undermines our national security or interests. That’s exactly what we intend to do.”