Sen. Tom Cotton calls for immediate deportation of foreign nationals who support Hamas

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has demanded that the Biden administration deport all foreign nationals who have “expressed support for Hamas,” and said some students at Harvard University would be “a good place to start.” 

“I write to urge you to immediately deport any foreign national – including and especially any alien on a student visa – that has expressed support for Hamas and its murderous attacks on Israel,” Cotton wrote in a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday.

“These fifth-columnists have no place in the United States,” the Arkansas Republican added. 

Cotton, who served two combat tours as a member of the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, cited US immigration laws which deem foreigners ineligible for entry into the US if they “endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization.”

The senator, a Harvard University graduate, specifically called for the swift deportation of numerous students from his alma mater who signed onto a letter last week claiming Israel was “entirely responsible” for the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on the Jewish state. The attack killed more than 1,400 people in Israel, including women, children and the elderly. 

“Swiftly removing and permanently barring from future reentry any foreign student who signed onto or shared approvingly the anti-Semitic letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee on October 7 would be a good place to start,” Cotton writes. 

The Harvard letter, signed by more than 30 student organizations on the Ivy League schools campus, sparked outrage and condemnation, and led to calls for Harvard University President Claudine Gay to resign. 

Harvard alumni on Capitol Hill, led by House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), sent a letter to Gay last week calling on her to resign for not denouncing the “dangerous antisemitism” espoused by the groups.

Sen. Josh Hawley has also asked the Justice Department to investigate whether university student groups that supported Hamas in the wake of its deadly terrorist attack are receiving funding from the jihadist group.

In his letter, Cotton called the “explosion” of antisemitism in the US since the attack on Israel “appalling,” arguing that it “should disturb anyone who shares American values.”

“While American citizens may have a First Amendment right to speak disgusting vitriol if they so choose, no foreign national has a right to advocate for terrorism in the United States,” Cotton wrote.