By Virag Gulyas, JNS
When you apply for one, you explicitly must declare, “I do not support any terrorist organization.”
I still remember the moment in 2017 when I received my F1 student visa to the United States. What many people do not know is the five years I spent dreaming, praying and working relentlessly to make it happen.
You don’t know about the nights I cried myself to sleep, convinced I would never find a way. You don’t know how my heart raced every time I landed at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, fearing that something might go wrong. And you certainly don’t know how I whispered “thank you” every time I saw an American flag, overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity I had fought so hard to earn.
The process to come and stay legally in the United States is not an easy one and is flawed in many ways. But I had two choices: adapt to my host country and its rules or not come here.
And then, there are them.
The ones burning American and Israeli flags on the streets of the very country that granted them the same visa. The ones who see being in America as a given rather than a privilege. The ones who apparently have nothing to lose because hating Israel is more important to them than the dreams that supposedly brought them to a university in the United States.
Let me be clear: I wholeheartedly support the decision to revoke F1 visas the moment someone violates their terms. This should have been a no-brainer from day one. When you apply for any U.S. visa, you must explicitly declare, “I do not support any terrorist organization.”
This is not in the fine print. It is not an optional clause. It is a fundamental agreement between you and the country granting you entry. Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies are designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States, the European Union, Canada, Israel and other nations. Waving their flags, chanting support for them or justifying their actions is, by definition, a violation of the visa’s terms.
If you have ever applied for a visa, you know how strict the process is.
One mistake—one unchecked box, one missing document—can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. I spent years on an F1 student visa, hyper-aware of every rule. I tiptoed around anything that could jeopardize my status because I understood what was at stake.
But in the past year, we have watched students on these visas marching in the streets, covering their faces and openly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah—jihadist terrorist organizations. By law, this should have led to immediate visa revocation. And yet, it didn’t. Why?
Why were there no consequences? Why did the system suddenly decide to ignore its own rules? And, more importantly, why are some people outraged that this is finally being corrected?
It’s impossible to ignore what’s happened since Oct. 7, 2023. While Jewish and Zionist students and professors have been attacked on campuses, while parents whose children were kidnapped by Hamas have been harassed and spat on, while posters of kidnapped hostages have been torn down by students—both local and international—my heart has broken again and again.
This is not just a Jewish issue but an American one. And it is an issue that affects everyone.
No one who loves America should oppose the Trump administration’s decision to revoke the visas of students who violate these terms. What kind of country allows foreign nationals to come in, take advantage of the system and then use that privilege to support a terror organization?
This is why I support U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order. Not because it’s Trump but because it’s basic common sense. And because this is the law.
Anyone who doesn’t understand that doesn’t deserve to be here.
For those of us who do understand it—who have prayed, cried and worked tirelessly for our dreams—America is more than just a place. It is an opportunity. It is a responsibility. It is something worth respecting.
And if you don’t feel that way? Then you don’t belong here.
