For the past fifteen months, some college students have advocated for the end of Israeli occupation of Palestine, along with a ceasefire in the region. President Donald Trump’s administration is now taking “unprecedented steps to combat antisemitism” through multiple executive orders — threatening to strip away student visas and deport protestors.
Back in April 2024, an array of pro-Palestine protests and encampments began on college campuses nationwide, including University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Columbia University and New York University. At Howard, Students for Justice in Palestine organized many protests and demonstrations, challenging the administration’s alleged ties with Israel.
In response to the nationwide protests, the Trump administration plans to cancel student visas and deport demonstrators.
In a Jan. 30 executive order, the Trump administration addressed the pro-Palestine protests and demonstrations, accusing protestors of antisemitism and being “Hamas sympathizers.”
The administration pledges to use federal resources such as the Department of Justice to quell demonstrations on campus and punish protestors. Trump’s orders will apply to student protestors who are not natural-born U.S. citizens.
The executive order describes pro-Palestine protestors as “pro-Hamas aliens” and “left-wing radicals,” accusing them of instigating intimidation, vandalism and violence across college campuses.
“I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” the executive order said.
Paired with this is a Jan. 29 executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism.”
The order calls for institutions of higher education to become familiar with the grounds for inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C 1182, which addresses immigration.
“Such institutions may monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to those grounds,” the executive order said.
According to an article by Reuters, many protesters denied supporting Hamas or engaging in antisemitism, and many demonstrations were peaceful.
These new actions taken by Trump and his administration have sparked questions about First Amendment rights, which allow for free speech and protest.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) claimed that Trump’s threats to deport protestors are an attack on free speech.
According to FIRE, Trump’s executive order “implies that universities should be monitoring and reporting students for scrutiny by immigration officials, including for speech that is protected by the First Amendment.”
Dima Khalidi, director of Palestine Legal, described the executive orders as “ideological strangulation,” and a violation of free speech.
“It strikes at the heart of students’ free speech rights. Its true goal is not to stop anti-semitism- but to stop the growing support in this country for Palestinian liberation,” Khalidi said.
Betar, a far-right zionist group, has shown support for Trump’s executive orders.
The group spoke with Salon— a news website— and said they compiled a list of foreign students and teachers they believe should be deported. Betar shared the list with the Trump administration.
Daniel Levy, a spokesperson for Betar, spoke with Salon about the organization’s support for Trump’s orders.
“We have already submitted the names of hundreds of terror supporters to the Trump administration who proudly support terror and don’t belong in this country as they’re on visas,” Levy said.
According to Salon, the list included students and faculty from Columbia University, UCLA, and the University of Michigan
All of this comes in the wake of the Israel Defense Force’s conflict on the Gaza Strip.
While Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported the death toll to be 47,600 since Oct. 7, the true number of Gazans killed is much higher, NBC News reported.
Multiple human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The UN Special Committee also stated that Israel’s warfare in Gaza is “consistent with the characteristics of genocide.”
Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau
