Trump signs executive order to deport college students who protested against Israel

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to deport foreign students at US universities who demonstrated against the Israeli aggression on Gaza. He said that his administration has fought and will continue to fight anti-Semitism, adding that this new executive order directs additional measures to strengthen his policy in combating anti-Semitism.

The executive order calls on the departments of State, Education, and Homeland Security to submit reports to institutions of higher education with recommendations for reasons for inadmissibility, so that these institutions can monitor and report on the activities of international students and employees, and ensure that such reports lead to investigations of the aliens and, if appropriate, to deportation.

Trump alleged in the executive order that Jewish students faced discrimination; denial of access to common areas and facilities on campus, including libraries and classrooms; intimidation, harassment, physical threats and assault. He said that “attacks on the people of Israel have unleashed an unprecedented wave of anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses, and that the federal government has failed spectacularly to protect Jewish students,” adding that “this failure is unacceptable and ends today.”

“It should be the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute or hold accountable perpetrators of anti-Semitic harassment and violence,” he continued. He called for additional measures to combat anti-Semitism on campus, and that within 60 days the head of each executive department or agency submit a report to the President outlining all civil and criminal authorities or actions and containing an inventory and analysis of all administrative complaints pending, up to the date of the report, against institutions of higher education with allegations of anti-Semitism on their campuses after October 7, 2023.

The order also required that the Attorney General’s report include an inventory and analysis of all cases filed in court, to the date of the report, against institutions of higher education and an indication of whether the Attorney General intends to take or has taken any action against them, and that it “encourages the Attorney General to employ civil rights enforcement powers.” The order called for an analysis of the content of school curricula beginning in kindergarten regarding “anti-Semitism,” and emphasized that the Secretary of Education’s report must include an inventory and analysis of all complaints of anti-Semitism and administrative actions, including in K-12 education.

New Arab