Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent a resounding message to foreign students celebrating terrorism – not on his watch.
Within hours of the deadly and unprecedented surprise attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, U.S. students marched in solidarity with Palestine on campuses around the country. The pro-Palestine demonstrations arrived before Israel retaliated.
An NYU student was caught ripping down posters of Israelis who have been kidnapped by Hamas.
More than 30 student-run organizations at Harvard placed blame on Israel for the surprise attack by Hamas terrorists earlier this month.
The protests continued in the two weeks following the onslaught that included some 260 young Israelis who were murdered at a music festival near the border of Gaza.
DeSantis vowed to cancel visas and deport foreign students celebrating terrorist acts or terrorist groups.
"When I’m President, if foreign students are out there celebrating terrorism, I will cancel their visas and send them home," DeSantis wrote on the X social media platform on Saturday.
After speaking at a campaign event in Iowa on Friday, DeSantis reiterated his stance against foreigners celebrating terrorism in the United States.
"When the blood wasn't even dry on the Israelis who had been massacred, you had people in America going out protesting in favor of Hamas," DeSantis said. "And that's very chilling. Some of these people are not U.S. citizens, they're on student visas. So as president, if you're on a student visa and you're a foreigner and you're out there celebrating terrorism, I'm canceling your visa and I'm sending you home."
Former President Donald Trump reacted by posting a strongly-worded message on Truth Social. .
"What happened in Israel was barbaric!" Trump wrote on TRUTH Social earlier this month. "Now American Universities are allowing or enabling the open hatred against Israel and America! Instead of educating our young Americans, Deans stand idly by while subversive groups are calling for a National Day of Resistance."
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called on the Biden administration to rescind visas of foreign nationals who support Hamas.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R. Ark.) prodded the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deport foreign nationals – including those on student visas – who have shown support for Hamas after the terror attack on Israel.
More than 5,700 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel since the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on Oct.7, which led to retaliatory action from the IDF.
Last week, an airplane landed with 270 Americans who had been stuck in Israel. DeSantis signed an executive order to enable the state of Florida to "carry out logistical, rescue and evacuation operations to keep its residents safe" and provide resources to the Florida Division of Emergency Management to bring Americans back home.
DeSantis previously pledged to not accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza.
"I don't know what [President] Biden's gonna do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees. I am not going to do that," DeSantis said at a campaign event earlier this month.
"If you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas, but they are all anti-Semitic. None of them believe in Israel's right to exist," DeSantis added.
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