A number of schools that are being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Trump administration have used big financial aid packages to bring in illegal immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an order on the first day of President Donald Trump’s term that allowed immigration enforcement to happen on college campuses. Since then, ICE has held a number of students.
ICE arrested Rumeysa Öztürk on Wednesday in Somerville, Massachusetts, after the Department of Homeland Security took away her visa. She was a student at Tufts University. Öztürk was “permitted to be in this country on a visa,” a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman told Fox News Digital in the past.
“DHS and ICE investigations found Öztürk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organisation that relishes the killing of Americans,” a spokesperson told us.
On their website, Tufts University in Boston says that illegal immigrants and people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status can get “100% of demonstrated need” of the cost of going to school.
“Tufts proudly meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need of every admitted student, regardless of citizenship status,” says the Tufts website.
The American Immigration Council says that there are more than 408,000 illegal immigrant students at American schools and universities.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital that colleges have been recruiting illegal immigrants for “too long.” He also said that the federal government should stop giving money to some schools.
“This has been going on for too long, and I’m glad we can finally have these kinds of talks and hold colleges accountable, which can only be done by taking away their money.” Owens said, “That’s the only thing they get.”
On Monday, the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said it would be looking over contracts worth more than $255.6 million between the federal government and Harvard University.
ICE officers arrested Mahmoud Khalil in New York City in early March. Khalil helped lead the anti-Israel camp in the spring of 2024. There are claims by the Department of Homeland Security that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation.”
Khalil was born in Syria and first came to the U.S. in 2022. In 2024, he became a legal resident.
As stated in a court document, the Department of Homeland Security said Khalil lied on a form to change his immigration status and failed to reveal his “membership in [a] certain organisation.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was one of the groups mentioned in the filing. It lost tens of millions of dollars in federal funding after Israel said that UNRWA employees took part in Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.
The court document says that Khalil worked for UNRWA as a political worker from June 2023 to November 2023.
It is said that Columbia University in New York City will meet “the full need of all applicants admitted,” and this is true “regardless of citizenship.”
There are a lot of foreign students at Columbia, and a lot of them get financial aid, according to a university website.
Owens was also happy that the Trump administration is going after students who “slipped through” the Biden and Obama administrations.
“The school needs to be a safe place for everyone.” Marco Rubio said it best when he talked about people who aren’t here for the right reasons. You know, when people come here to get a visa, we ask them, “Why are you here?” Owens said, “If you say you’re going to come here to disrupt, protest, scare, or intimidating, then you’ll never get the chance to come here.”
“Yes, we need to make sure that those types of people who get through the holes that Obama and Biden clearly didn’t make will be caught and sent away.” We’ll get back to a place where college campuses and the people who go there to debate, learn, grow, and serve our country are accepted.
“The purpose of our universities is not to go out and coddle those who hate our nation,” he said.
