U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was involved in yet another heated exchange on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the department readies its budget proposals for the fiscal year 2026.
This time, Rubio sparred with Rep. Pramilia Jayapal (D-WA) over the administration’s immigration policies, particularly the revocation of student visas for individuals who demonstrate animus towards the United States and its people.
Jayapal — who enthusiastically supported former President Joe Biden’s de facto open border policies that saw more than seven million illegal aliens flood the United States — took issue with the Trump Administration’s decision to resettle a small number of Afrikaner refugees.
The congresswoman, who currently chairs the House Progressive Caucus, accused the Trump Administration of “racism” for resettling a mere 59 South African refugees fleeing farm murders while suspending student visas for foreign nationals who praise jihadist groups like Hamas.
“Where in the Constitution does it say that the Secretary of State can override the First Amendment protections of free speech? Is there a footnote that I missed somewhere?” Jayapal asked, to which the secretary replied, “There’s no constitutional right to a student visa.”
Jayapal then asked Rubio to point to the constitutional authority he has to determine “which speech is appropriate and revokes student visas based on what you think constitutes free speech.”
The secretary responded by providing a civics lesson in which he informed the congresswoman that the Secretary of State’s Office makes determinations on whether an individual poses a threat to the United States. At that point, Jayapal once again repeated the question and seemingly insinuated that the U.S. is obligated to grant visas to anyone who wants one.
“Well, Congress can always change the law if you want, but I’m telling you, in the meanwhile, I have the authority. Let me be clear. While I have the authority, I will continue to revoke the visas of these people that come here to tear this country apart because they’re on student visas,” Rubio answered.
Jayapal continued to suggest that the U.S. has no authority to vet anyone who requests a student visa by insinuating that doing so would be a violation of the First Amendment and the spirit of free speech. The congresswoman zeroed in on the revocation of a visa belonging to a Turkish national who published a pro-Palestine op-ed in a student newspaper.
The Department of Homeland Security has determined that the individual in question presents significant security risks to the United States due to support for groups like Hamas.
“Let me reclaim my time because you are talking about revoking student visas based on what somebody says. And that means that you are trumping the legal Supreme Court, the supreme law of the land, which is the Constitution of the United States,” the congresswoman ranted, at which point Rubio once again pointed out that “no one has a right to a student visa.”
“That law student was a guest in the United States on a student visa. No one is entitled to a student visa.”
