(NewsNation) — Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wants to know if some of the protests happening on college campuses can be considered a “national security threat.”
“It sure looks like it when it’s being done by students here on a visa,” Jordan said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”
House Republicans on Tuesday announced an investigation into the federal funding for universities where students have protested the Israel-Hamas war, broadening a campaign that has placed heavy scrutiny on how presidents at the nation’s most prestigious colleges have dealt with reports of antisemitism on campus.
Jordan says it’s important to find out who’s financing the protests and if students participating are foreigners here on visas.
“If there’s students who are engaged in this radical activity that’s against the law and they’re here on a visa, they’re supposed to be removed,” Jordan said.
According to the latest DHS data available, in 2022 there were 20,347 foreign students enrolled at Columbia University. The university’s website has the latest data for 2023, and puts the number at 20,321 foreign students.
Several House committees will be tasked with a wide probe that ultimately threatens to withhold federal research grants and other government support to the universities, placing another pressure point on campus administrators who are struggling to manage pro-Palestinian encampments, allegations of discrimination against Jewish students and questions of how they are integrating free speech and campus safety.
The House investigation follows several recent high-profile hearings that precipitated the resignations of presidents at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. And House Republicans promised more scrutiny, saying they were calling on the administrators of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan to testify next month.
“We will not allow antisemitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference.
Nationwide, campus protesters have called for their institutions to cut financial ties to Israel and decried how thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed by Israel following the deadly attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Some organizers have called for Hamas to violently seize Israeli territory and derided Zionism. Jewish students, meanwhile, have reported being targeted and say campus administrators have not done enough to protect them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.