President Donald Trump's administration has revoked more than 6,000 student visas since January 20, the State Department confirmed to The National on Monday.
The State Department, which is responsible for issuing and overseeing visas, said that it had revoked the visas for a host of reasons including “overstays and law violations".
Fox News, which first reported the story, quoted a department official as saying the majority of infractions were for “assault, DUI [driving under the influence], burglary and support for terrorism".
The State Department said that about 200 to 300 of the visas were revoked under INA 3B, a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows for the revocation or refusal of visas on terrorism grounds.
The Trump administration has accused universities of failing to clamp down on anti-Semitism and has taken particular aim at foreign students who protested in support of Palestine during a wave of campus demonstrations last year. In pursuit of this aim, immigration officers have made several controversial arrests, including former Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil.
Mr Khalil, a legal US resident who played a prominent role in pro-Palestine campus protests, was arrested in March by plainclothes immigration officers who said his green card had been revoked. He was released on bail in June and has filed a $20 million lawsuit against the Trump administration.
The news about the foreign student visas comes after the State Department announced it was suspending visitor visas for Gazans, even those seeking medical treatment after being injured in Israel's war on the enclave.
