Colleges in ICE's deportation crosshairs shelled out discounts, financial aid to illegal immigrants: GOP rep

Several colleges that are being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Trump administration have recruited illegal immigrants with hefty financial aid packages. 

On day 1 of President Donald Trump's administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a directive that opened the door for immigration enforcement to take place on college campuses. Since then, ICE has detained several students. 

Tufts University student Rumeysa Öztürk was taken into custody on Wednesday by ICE in Somerville, Massachusetts, after her visa was revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously told Fox News Digital that Öztürk was "granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa."

"DHS and ICE investigations found Öztürk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans," the spokesperson said.

VIDEO SHOWS ARREST OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY STUDENT FOR ALLEGEDLY SUPPORTING HAMAS

Rumeysa Öztürk, a 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University, is detained by Department of Homeland Security agents on a street in Sommerville, Mass., on March 25. (AP)

Tufts University in Boston has a webpage that states illegal immigrants, as well as individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, are eligible to obtain "100% of demonstrated need" of the cost to attend the institution.

"Tufts proudly meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need of every admitted student, regardless of citizenship status," reads the Tufts webpage.

Notably, according to the American Immigration Council, more than 408,000 illegal immigrant students are enrolled at American colleges and universities.

Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital that colleges have been courting illegal immigrants for "too long" and suggested pulling some federal funding for certain institutions.

"This has been going on way too long, and I'm just thankful that we are really at a point of being able to have these kind of conversations, be able to hold the colleges accountable, and the only way to do that is to take away the money. That's the only thing that they understand," Owens said.

The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced Monday it's reviewing over $255.6 million in contracts between the federal government and Harvard University.

COLUMBIA GRADS SHRED DIPLOMAS OVER MAHMOUD KHALIL ARREST: 'WE ARE ENRAGED'

Mahmoud Khalil allegedly played a major role in the protests against Israel at Columbia University. (Ted Shaffrey)

Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead the spring 2024 anti-Israel encampment, was detained by ICE agents in New York City in early March. The Department of Homeland Security alleges that Khalil "led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization."

Khalil was born in Syria and came to the U.S. in 2022 before becoming a permanent resident in 2024.

In a court filing, the Department of Homeland Security alleged that Khalil lied on a form to change his immigration status and didn't disclose his "membership in [a] certain organization."

One of the organizations referenced in the filing was the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which had tens of millions of dollars in federal funding revoked after Israel accused the organization of having employees participate in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack.

(Getty Images | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

According to the court filing, Khalil was a UNRWA political officer from June 2023 to November 2023.

At Columbia University in New York City, the institution boasts that it will meet "the full need of all applicants admitted," which is "regardless of citizenship."

"Columbia admits a large number of international students who receive a substantial amount of financial aid," a university webpage states.

Owens also said that he's pleased the Trump administration is taking action against students who "slipped through" the Biden and Obama administrations.

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"We have to make sure that the campus is a safe place. Those who are not here for the right reasons, I think Marco Rubio said it best. You know, we ask questions when people come here to get a visa, and that is: Why you here? If you say you are going to come here so you can disrupt, to demonstrate, to intimidate, to terrorize, then you'll never get the opportunity to come here," Owens said.

"So yes, we need to make sure those kinds of people that slip through the screens that Obama and Biden obviously did not put up, we're going to get them out. And we'll get back to where we welcome the college campus and people that are there to debate, to learn and to grow and to give back to our nation."

"The purpose of our universities is not to go out and coddle those who hate our nation," he added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Tufts University and Columbia University for comment.

Fox News' Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this report.