Secretary of State Marco Rubio got into a heated exchange with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) during a congressional hearing concerning the topic of revoking student visas for foreigners, nearly driving her to tears. A video clip of the incident has resurfaced and is going viral due to showcasing the stalwart defense of putting our nation, its laws, and its national security first.
The clip starts with Jayapal attempting to question the constitutional authority of the secretary of state to allegedly override the First Amendment. The attack is referencing to the revocation of a student visa for Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student who was allegedly detained after penning an op-ed. “Where in the Constitution does it say that the secretary of state can override the First Amendment protection of free speech?” Jayapal asks Rubio. “Is there a footnote that I missed?”
Rubio, however, doesn’t miss a beat, pointing out that the Constitution, which is the foundational document for our country and the principles upon which our laws and the protection of our rights are built, has no guaranteed right for a foreign individual to have a student visa. “There’s no constitutional right to a student visa,” Rubio fires back at Jayapal.
“A student visa is a privilege,” Rubio continues, before Jayapal interjects, asking in a venomous, sarcastic tone if there is a section of the Constitution that provides Rubio or any other secretary of state with the right to revoke a student visa due to something they said. “Does it say somewhere that Marco Rubio gets to determine which speech is appropriate and revokes a visa based on what you think constitutes free speech?”
The secretary of state is having none of what Jayapal is attempting to dole out, noting that there’s a statute that allows the secretary of state to deny visas to anyone deemed a threat. “There’s a statute that says the secretary of state gets to determine whether someone is a threat. We deny visas every day, all over the world, and we’ll keep doing it.”
Jayapal, once again, speaks over Rubio as he attempts to answer the question, setting a pattern for the rest of the exchange, asking, “Do you think that the Immigration and Nationality Act trumps the Constitution of the United States?” He answers, “Well, Congress can always change the law if you want, but I’m telling, you in the meanwhile, I have the authority. I will continue to revoke the visas of these people who come to tear this country apart, because on student visas, these people are guests.”
The congresswoman, clearly growing more agitated, continues to talk over Rubio, not allowing him to have the time to appropriately and fully answer her questions. “Mr. Rubio, you are talking about revoking student visas based on what somebody says, and that means that you are trumping the legal supreme law of the land, which is the Constitution of the United States.
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“No one has the right to a student visa,” Rubio reiterates. Before he can elaborate, Jayapal asks, “Mr. Rubio, why did the administration need to use masked, armed, unidentified agents to whisk somebody off the street and deny her counsel for almost 24 hours after her arrest?” The secretary of state replies, “Well, you’ll have to ask the agencies that did that work. I’m not responsible. I’m responsible for the visas of the people that come to tear this country apart.”
“They never should have allowed them in,” he says. The Washington Democrat then reiterates that the current conversation is about the particular case where she claims Ozturk’s student visa was revoked because of her op-ed. She continues to hammer on Rubio, claiming he made the decision to have the visa revoked because he disagreed with the op-ed Ozturk wrote and allowed masked men to take her off the streets.
“You have multiple jobs, apparently. You’re the National Security Advisor as well, so don’t tell me that it’s not your job. Let me ask you about the national security consequences of people, masked men on the street, snatching people off the streets.” Rubio interjects that the State Department does not do any “snatching,” reiterating that they do revoke visas and affirmed they will continue to do so. “If these are legitimate law enforcement agents carrying out proper arrests, why are they hiding their identities,” she asks the secretary of state.
“Because radical crazies will try to hurt them,” Rubio states matter-of-factly. “So you think that U.S. agents who have almost always gone without face coverings, even when they’ve arrested some of the country’s most dangerous criminals, suddenly have so much to fear from a graduate student who wrote an op-ed that they need to be masked?” She asks, again, agitated. Rubio tries to interject and remind Jayapal that the State Department is not a law enforcement agency.
“Again,” Rubio interrupts, “that law student was a guest in the United States on a student visa. No one is entitled to a student visa. We deny visas every day, and we will continue to revoke visas.” Jayapal then tries to press the idea of the State Department revoking Ozturk’s visa over the op-ed, claiming once again that Rubio is claiming he has the right to trump the Constitution.
“Someone’s coming up here to stir up problems on our campus, we’re going to revoke their visas,” Rubio continues. “She wrote an op-ed,” the congresswoman says, growing more emotional, looking as though she could burst into tears at any moment. “Those her lawyer’s claims and your claims. Those are not the facts,” the secretary of state replies.
“You revoked her student visa –” Jayapal reiterates, to which Rubio interjects, “Yes. Proudly. We’re going to do more of them.” She then says, “I have another question. Would you revoke the visa of someone in the United States who published claims that quote ‘Jews are an untrustworthy and dangerous group?’ Yes or no?”
Rubio responds, “We will revoke the visa of anyone who’s in this country as a guest who is here to stir up trouble. I’m looking to get crazy people out of our country.” Jayapal then asks why the Trump administration granted a visa to Charles Kleinhaus, the white African who tweeted the statement she previously read. Rubio points out that Kleinhaus wasn’t here on a student visa and clarified that he went through a completely different process. Jayapal then repeats the claim that Ozturk’s visa was revoked because of the op-ed, voice quivering, clearly realizing she’s getting nowhere and growing frustrated to the point of tears, as her time expires.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video