CHAD WOLF DEFENDED TRUMP’S DEPORTATION OF STUDENT PROTESTERS AT THE CANADA STRONG AND FREE NETWORK CONFERENCE IN OTTAWA
The former acting United States Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf encouraged Canada to follow the US’s lead in deporting student protesters, telling the conservative audience that student visas are a “benefit”, not a “right.”
Wolf’s comments came during the April 9 opening keynote of the Canada Strong and Free Network conference in Ottawa, which was held against a backdrop of tense Canada-US relations and heightened political fervor around immigration.
In the past 82 days since Trump took office, his administration has revoked more than 300 visas, many of which were held by university students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
The high-profile case of Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Palestinian Columbia University student who has not been charged with a crime yet was ordered to be deported in early March was not mentioned directly; nor was any other student mentioned by name.
However, the audience seemed enthusiastic about Wolf’s — and Trump’s —- hardline stance on student protesters, with the room erupting in cheers when Wolf said “[student protesters] can’t hide behind the First Amendment any longer.”
Wolf did not mince words during his conversation with corporate lawyer John Walsh, calling student protesters “terrorists,” and remarking, “No one in the world has a right to come to the United States.”
Throughout the keynote, Wolf seemed to encourage Canada to tighten its immigration policies, at one point bragging about Trump’s suspension of the refugee admissions program.
Explaining the Trump administration’s policy on dealing with student protesters, Wolf said, “Look, you don’t have a right to a student visa. But if you do come here, and we do provide you one, and then you go out on campus and you advocate for a foreign terrorist organization like Hamas, guess what? You don’t get to do that in the United States anymore. We’re going to deport you.”
This year’s Canada Strong and Free Network conference was backed by a range of sponsors, including oil giants like Koch Inc., Imperial Oil, Tourmaline Oil, Suncor, Valero, Cenovus, and TC Energy. It also received support from major corporations such as TD Bank, Mastercard, Meta, and the right-wing social media platform Rumble.
The Canada Strong and Free Network, founded in 2005 as the Manning Centre, is a think tank representing Canada’s conservative movement. Its previous president was Jamil Jivani, now a Conservative MP who is a close ally to Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and is considered good friends with U.S. vice-president JD Vance.
