Did Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially declare that individuals who criticize Israel will be denied entry visas to the United States? No, that's not true: In a video posted along with the claim, Secretary Rubio does say the U.S. has implemented a new visa policy to "prevent foreign nationals from coming to the United States to foment hatred against our Jewish community." Rubio did not say that under the new visa policy criticism of Israel would trigger a ban. A top White House spokesman said emphatically that it is not the U.S. policy.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X by @clashreport on May 30, 2025. The caption above the Rubio video read:
Marco Rubio officially declares that individuals who criticize Israel will be denied entry visas to the United States.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: screenshot of X.com by Lead Stories)
The video is the last 42 seconds of a 4-minute address (archived here) that Rubio recorded to be played at the Foreign Minister's Conference on Combating Antisemitism in Jerusalem on May 28, 2025. The transcript of the segment reads:
Under President Trump, the United States will stand with the Jewish people. We have implemented a vigorous new visa policy that will prevent foreign nationals from coming to the United States to foment hatred against our Jewish community. We are holding international organizations and nations accountable for rhetoric against Israel that resurfaces in the manifesto of monsters like Yaron and Sarah's killer, but we do see an eventual light at the end of this long tunnel of suffering. One can imagine the Middle East in which the Abraham Accords eventually reign. So, thank you for the opportunity to address you.
Rubio was referring to Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgim, two employees of Israel's Washington embassy who were murdered days earlier outside a Jewish Museum in the District of Columbia.
White House deputy communications director Alex Pfeiffer reacted to the Clash Report post with this comment (archived here) on June 1, 2025.
The 'Clash Report' is spreading lies. This isn't our policy.
Secretary Rubio doesn't even say that in the video you post.
(Source: screenshot of X.com by Lead Stories)
While there is no official declaration that criticism of Israel would lead to the denial of an entry visa, the U.S. State Department has signaled that social media posts of people applying for student visas to attend U.S. universities could trigger a denial. The Associated Press reported (archived here) on May 27, 2025, that Rubio ordered all U.S. embassies and consulates to temporarily suspend all interviews with foreign students while the State Department develops guidelines for screening their social media posts for objectionable content.
