On Wednesday, the same day pro-Hamas extremists tore down and burned American flags in Washington, D.C. while chanting “Allahu Akbar” and waving Hamas terrorist flags, Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton introduced a bill that would terminate any visa and require deportation within 60 days of any non-citizen convicted of a criminal offense during a protest.
Senators Ted Budd (R-NC) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) co-sponsored the legislation titled the “No Visas for Violent Criminals Act.”
“The Biden administration’s inaction against pro-Hamas mobs has only emboldened these extremists. Our legislation makes clear that a green card does not give individuals the right to break our laws in support of anti-Semitic views,” Sen. Cotton stated.
The bill states:
Any alien who is convicted of a crime related to the alien’s conduct at and during the course of a protest that occurs at an institution of higher education or at a facility in the United States operated by a religious institution; involving the defacement, vandalism, or destruction of a Federal memorial or monument, including any veterans memorial … involving the intentional obstruction of any highway, road, bridge, or tunnel, is deportable.
If any alien is convicted of a deportable crime described in section 237(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act … any visa issued to such alien shall immediately be cancelled; and not later than 60 days after such conviction, such alien shall be removed from the United States.
On Wednesday, the extremists were protesting in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a speech before the U.S. Congress. Much of the chaos unfolded at Union Station, where the extremists tore down three American flags and replaced them with Palestinian flags.
The extremists vandalized the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain with graffiti that said, “Hamas Is Coming” and “Zionists Go To Hell.”
Some of the extremists also carried Hamas flags or other flags that appeared to be linked to Islamic extremism, wore Hamas headbands, and carried pro-Nazi signs that spoke about Islam’s “Final Solution” for the Jewish State.
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article.
