The following article was adapted from a segment of Tuesday’s episode of The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI and reflects the author’s opinion.
Recently, a number of individuals affiliated with the University of Washington had their visas revoked by the US government. The University of Washington said it will continue supporting these individuals with “the resources they need to be able to learn, teach and succeed.” Were they talking about a faculty member? A UW spokesperson said no and qualified the statement by adding, “Those two sentences were referring to international students and scholars in general, not specifically the nine in question.”
According to UW’s original statement regarding those that had their visas revoked, “No additional information or details were provided, but we have no indication these active actions are due to activism or any other protected free speech.”
The university refuses to identify the individuals but insists there’s no indication the revocations were connected to activism or free speech. Were they participants in the recent spate of pro-Hamas, BLM, or Antifa protests? We don’t know — yet.
Were any of these individuals involved in the newly created Palestinian Studies Department? The department was created after UW caved to last year’s anti-Israel Gaza encampment protesters. That deal reportedly included flying in faculty members who weren’t just anti-Israel — but pro-Hamas.
Your tax dollars paid to import activists to help build a department steeped in a highly controversial ideology — for a school under multiple investigations and lawsuits, including civil rights complaints under Title VI and Title IX. And yet, the university pretends nothing is wrong.
And we’re supposed to take UW at their word that these actions weren’t connected to campus activism? The University of Washington has been rated among the most antisemitic campuses in the US. You’d think that would make school leadership reflect.
The university went to the extra effort to assure its progressive activist students and faculty that there’s been no visit from immigration officials. But how would they know who comes and goes from their wide-open campus? They didn’t even know they had Hamas sympathizers setting up tents in the quad last year. Or, worse, they ignored them and didn’t attempt to stop the violence that was transpiring.
When this news broke of the visa revocations, I reached out to the State Department. According to their statement, the US has zero tolerance for non-citizens who violate the law, and those who break the rules may face visa refusal, revocation, or deportation. The agency also emphasized that all visa applicants are subject to continuous vetting, even after entry.
Translation: If your visa was pulled, you likely did something more serious than forget a form.
Senator Marco Rubio also weighed in recently, saying that over 300 student visas have been revoked and that number is likely to grow. “If you come to the US to create a ruckus,” he warned, “you’ll be kicked out.” That includes people associated with organizations like “Within Our Lifetime” — a group reportedly under investigation for potential ties to terrorist organizations.
Just last night in New York, protesters chained Grand Central Station doors shut with handcuffs and barricades, effectively trapping commuters. It was chaos. These weren’t peaceful demonstrators — they were extremists, many tied to the same networks gaining traction on campuses like UW.
New Yorkers, fed up, responded by throwing garbage and worse from their windows. Not exactly highbrow civic discourse, but it’s a sign of rising frustration.
And while UW bends over backward to provide services to those under investigation — even those who may support terrorist ideologies — what did they offer Jewish students targeted by last year’s protests? Nothing. No legal help. No moral support. Nothing.
Let’s not forget that the Trump administration’s Education Department warned UW and other schools to protect Jewish students or risk losing federal funding. Before Trump took office, previous investigations were quietly settled with no punishments, no accountability — just a clean slate under the Biden administration.
So let me ask again: Who exactly lost their visas at the University of Washington? Criminals? Radical activists? Hamas sympathizers?
We don’t know yet. But we will and when we do, I hope someone finally holds these institutions accountable for turning a blind eye in the name of “diversity.”
Listen to The Ari Hoffman Show 3-6 pm Pacific on Talk Radio 570 KVI.
