(The Center Square) – A Texas bill, if enacted, would ban visa holders who support “terrorist activity at public institutions of higher education” from attending or working at Texas universities.
State Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, filed the bill after pro-Hamas rioters attempted to take over the University of Texas-Austin after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack against Israel but were arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety officers. Reports of increased antisemitic incidents and violence committed against Jews and even members of Texas congressional delegation also ensued, The Center Square reported. Hamas is a federally designated foreign terrorist organization.
While no pro-Hamas rioters were allowed to shut down Texas university or college campuses like they did at Columbia University or others nationwide, the Texas Senate is considering a bill to ensure prohibitions are put in place for the future.
SB 2233 would amend the Texas education code to include prohibitions and points to federal code, 8 U.S.C. Section 1182, to define terrorist activity and terrorist organizations. Title 8 lists reasons to prohibit foreign nationals from entering the U.S., including if they engaged in or were found to be likely to engage in a terrorist activity; are members of a terrorist organization as defined by federal statute; are members of a political, social, or other group that endorses or espouses terrorist activity; persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization; among other definitions.
Hinojosa’s bill would require public higher education institutions to adopt a policy “prohibiting a student enrolled at or employee of the institution who holds a nonimmigrant visa from publicly supporting terrorist activity related to an ongoing conflict; or at any time or place, persuading others to support terrorist activity related to an ongoing conflict or to support a terrorist organization, unless it is the policy or practice of the United States to support that activity or organization.”
It also would require institutions to investigate reports of alleged violations and implement consequences, including a one-year suspension from enrollment and employment for the first offense. Subsequent offenses would result in permanent expulsion and termination and reporting to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
The bill also would prohibit higher education institutions from admitting any student or hiring any employee who has been suspended or terminated for violating the prohibitions. It also authorizes the attorney general’s office to take action against the institution if it fails to comply and for courts to impose fines for noncompliance of up to one percent of the institution’s annual budget per instance of failure to comply.
Gov. Greg Abbott expressed support for it, saying it “would make universities suspend, expel students on visas who support terrorism. Let’s get this to my desk and make it law in Texas.”
The bill would implement similar measures he required in an executive order he issued last year, The Center Square reported. Abbott required all Texas higher education institutions to review their free speech policies, establish appropriate punishments for antisemitic rhetoric on campuses, among others.
Abbott has long called for the expulsion of students who support Hamas and remains steadfast in his support for Jewish students and for the nation of Israel, The Center Square reported. He also maintains that “the world cannot have peace until Hamas is gone.”
President Donald Trump also issued an executive order to combat antisemitism and has since targeted universities by stripping federal funding for those that don’t comply.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also began rescinding visas of alleged supporters of terrorism.
At a news conference last month, Rubio said, “”If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us the reason you are coming to the United States is … because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus – we’re not going to give you a visa.
“If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States, and with that visa, participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa. And once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States. And we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country.”
