Several months ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised that if holders of student visas were abusing their status here, they would be gone.

Rubio has since pulled some of these visas, but I doubt many people realized just how far he had gone.

Reports just surfaced that Rubio pulled 80,000 visas, and I would imagine the left is about to have a meltdown.

We will be taking them

In March, Rubio made it clear that people here on visas would not be permitted to talk trash about the country, lead violent protests, etc., without risking the loss of their visas, and it was not just students in the crosshairs.

He stated, “I don’t know actually if it’s primarily student visas.  It’s a combination of visas.”

Rubio continued, “They’re visitors to the country.  If they’re taking activities that are counter to our foreign -- to our national interest, to our foreign policy, we’ll revoke the visa.”

This initiative, of course, was criticized by Democrats, saying that Rubio was effectively threatening to stifle free speech.

Doubling down

In May, Rubio doubled down on his prior stance, announcing a “one-strike” policy for student visas and all other temporary visa holders.

Rubio’s zero-tolerance policy again came under fire from Democrats, who say that the administration is trying to silence opposing voices.

I supported Rubio's position because I simply don’t think that foreigners who are taking advantage of visa programs should be trash-talking our country and causing problems for other students.

This type of conduct is not tolerated in other countries, and I am not just talking about communist ones. I don’t think most people understand the hoops you have to jump through to get a visa to countries outside the U.S. and the stipulations or qualifications that come with those visas. What Rubio is proposing is nothing out of the ordinary.

80,000 revoked

This week, the administration announced that it had already revoked roughly 80,000 non-immigrant visas since Donald Trump took office in January. Among those, about 10% were student visas.

The State Department touted the removals on X, posting, "Promises made, promises kept. It further stated that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio "will always put the safety and interests of the American people first."

This falls in line with one of Trump’s executive orders requiring that visa holders "do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security."

As noted above, Democrats are having a meltdown over this, but I have zero issue with the policy. The administration is not stifling free speech; it is just holding people accountable for what they are saying. I just don’t think it is unreasonable to ask people who are working or studying here on a visa to be respectful of our country.