The State Department's new initiative: using AI to cancel visas for "pro-Hamas" foreign students

The State Department will use artificial intelligence (AI) for a new program that will seek out foreign students who support terrorist groups with the goal of suspending their visas. As reported by Axios after speaking with sources in the department headed Marco Rubio, the initiative will be a "catch and revoke" type. 

In effect, officials plan to examine internal databases to determine whether any student visa holders were arrested during the university riots.

"The reviews of social media accounts are particularly looking for evidence of alleged terrorist sympathies expressed after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel," the media outlet noted.

After the number of pro-Hamas demonstrations over the past few years, the official who spoke to Axios found it odd that there have been no reprisals for participants. "We found literally zero visa revocations during the Biden administration ... which suggests a blind eye attitude toward law enforcement," he said.

The program will be carried out working in conjunction with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, which are headed by Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem, respectively.

As for the legal details of the plan, the Immigration Nationality Act of 1952 gives the secretary of state the authority to revoke the visas of foreign students who are deemed a threat. Precisely, Rubio mentioned it during the Biden administration, when his post was held by Antony Blinken.

"We see people marching at our universities and in the streets of our country ... calling for Intifada, celebrating what Hamas has done ... Those people need to go," the former Florida senator said at the time.

In turn, the president referred to these cases last January 30. "To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice. We will find you, and we will deport you," he said, referring to an executive order targeting visa holders and aliens who "threaten our national security and espouse a hateful ideology."