DES MOINES, IOWA (November 10, 2023) — Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a twenty-state coalition in sending a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas calling for the removal of foreign student visa holders who have shown support for foreign terrorist organizations.
Since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, where 1,400 men, women, children, and babies were killed, college campuses have become a glowing hotbed of anti-Semitic activity. That includes threats of violence against Jewish students. Leading the charge for these threatening actions against Jewish students is Students for Justice in Palestine (“SJP”), a group linked to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, both designated as “foreign terrorist organizations” by the US Department of State. SJP has issued a “call to action” to its college chapters, urging them to hold demonstrations on campuses across the country.
“I'm joining a strong coalition of states in demanding that the Biden administration renew vetting of foreign student visa holders and expel those who have endorsed terrorist activity,” said AG Bird. “Threats of violence against Jewish students and support of terrorist groups like Hamas are abhorrent. There is no room for anti-Semitism on our college campuses, or anywhere, for that matter.”
Under US law, any alien who supports or endorses terrorist activity, or provides material support to a foreign terrorist organization, is not eligible to receive a visa or to enter the country. The law also states that knowingly providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempting or conspiring to do so, is a federal crime.
Iowa joined nineteen other states in the Arkansas-led letter.
Read the full letter here.
