Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, believes that foreign national students who decide to scoff at the privilege of being in the United States by rioting and assaulting police officers should be stripped of their visas and financial aid, and likely be deported.
While the Trump administration has already taken steps to deport students like Mahmoud Khalil and professors like Dr. Rasha Alawieh who show sympathy for designated terrorist organizations, Pfluger believes all the benefits afforded to these foreigners should be statutorily removed when they show contempt for the United States.
That is why he is reintroducing tandem bills on Friday to do exactly that: the UProot Rioting International Students Engaged in Radical Subversion Act (UPRISERS) and the Freeze Aid for Student Assaulters Act (FAFSA).
“It is a privilege for international students to have the opportunity to study in the United States, not a right,” Pfluger told The Federalist. “Given the increase in hostility, protests, and even violent riots across college campuses over the past few years, I am proud to reintroduce two pieces of extremely critical legislation to codify President Trump’s action on this issue and restore the rule of law.”
“The UPRISERS Act will revoke the visas of any international students, faculty members, and other individuals in the U.S. on a visa who assault a police officer or participate in riots,” Pfluger added. “It will also make any international student guilty of these crimes eligible for deportation. Additionally, the FAFSA Act will strip federal student aid from those convicted of these violent acts. These bills send a clear message: If you bring violence to the United States — you are not welcome here.”
Pfluger introduced the bills in the last session of Congress as well, but with the Trump administration already showing a willingness to take that kind of action, the opportunity for enshrining them into law appears ripe.
In addition to revoking visas from foreign nationals participating in riots or assaulting police officer, those found guilty of these crimes would also automatically be eligible for deportation under the UPRISERS Act.
The FAFSA Act would not only revoke student aid from those students but also force them to pay back the aid they had already received from American taxpayers. The aid received would become a loan that would not be eligible for forgiveness.
The two pieces of legislation could have a major effect at the country’s elite universities like Columbia, which is home to some of the most notable riots and protests of the past few years. The institution also happens to be one of the universities with the highest number of foreign students enrolled — around 55 percent of the student body, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
