No Visas for Anti-Semitic Students Act
This bill, titled the No Visas for Anti-Semitic Students Act, would require the Secretary of State to revoke or deny visas for international students who engage in defined antisemitic conduct and are determined to pose potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States as a result of that conduct. The antisemitism standard uses the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition as adopted by the State Department, including its contemporary examples. The statute would apply to both new visa applications and to nonimmigrant student status (F and M visas), with the Secretary authorized to revoke a visa if a student later engages in prohibited antisemitic conduct and the conduct is deemed to create foreign policy risks. In short, it creates a visa-revocation pathway for students tied to antisemitic actions or support, tied to foreign policy risk assessments.
Key Points
- 1The Secretary of State must revoke or deny a visa (under F or M) for a student who, after enactment, engages in prohibited antisemitic conduct and is found to pose potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences from that conduct.
- 2“Antisemitism” is defined by the IHRA definition adopted by the United States through the State Department, including its contemporary examples.
- 3“Prohibited antisemitic conduct” includes: (A) physical violence, vandalism, or harassment targeting a Jewish person, their property, or Jewish institutions/facilities intended to intimidate or harm; or (B) providing material support to someone who intends to use it for such acts.
- 4The bill adds a new subsection (s) to Section 214 of the Immigration and Nationality Act governing nonimmigrant status for students, prohibiting grant or maintenance of F or M status if the conduct meets the prohibited antisemitic conduct criteria and poses foreign policy risks, and requiring visa revocation if the Secretary determines this is the case.
- 5Determinations rely on the Secretary’s assessment under INA 237(a)(4)(C)(i) that the conduct would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.