Trump, in Landmark Executive Order Aimed at Campus Antisemitism, Puts ‘Hamas Sympathizers’ on ‘Notice.’

President Trump, in the most significant federal effort to combat campus antisemitism to date, has signed an executive order that calls on officials to use “all available and appropriate legal tools” to hold accountable the perpetrators of antisemetic harassment — up to and including, if applicable, deportation.“It is hard not to stand up and cheer at the sweep and power of President Trump’s actions to address antisemitism,” the leading authority on antisemitism and civil rights in higher education, Kenneth Marcus, tells the Sun. The order, which was issued on Wednesday, calls on the Department of Justice to take immediate action to quell “pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation” and to “investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.” It also instructs the head of each executive agency to provide the White House within 60 days a report identifying all civil and criminal authorities within their jurisdiction that might be used to curb antisemitism. Further, the order tasks institutions of higher education with monitoring and reporting potentially unlawful actions committed by non-citizen students and staff to ensure that such reports lead to an investigation and, “if warranted,” the perpetrators’ removal from the country. “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Mr. Trump wrote in a fact sheet for the order. “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 document directly references a report on antisemitism by the House of Representatives which decried the federal government’s failure to fight antisemitism and protect Jewish students as “astounding.” The order adds: “This failure is unacceptable and ends today.” The measure builds on an executive order issued in 2019 by Mr. Trump which affirmed protections for Jewish students under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and called on federal agencies to “consider” the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition for antisemitism, which identifies denying Jews the right to self-determination as a potentially antisemitic act. Although the Biden administration did not overturn the executive order, they had, for years, delayed issuing new Title VI guidance based on Trump’s measure. Mr. Marcus, who worked as assistant secretary for the Department of Education during Mr. Trump’s first term, says that it’s “refreshing after the last four years to see President Trump embracing his 2019 Executive Order in combatting antisemitism.” Mr. Marcus adds that he is “delighted that President Trump is addressing anti-Semitism so promptly and forcefully.” Last week, Mr. Trump signed into law an executive order that paved the way for the deportation of international students and faculty who participate in pro-terror campus protests. The order, titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” includes a key provision that enables the deportation of foreigners, including students, who express support for designated terrorist groups. A non-partisan Jewish advocacy group, StopAntisemitism, praised the order as a “bold and critical step toward restoring safety and order on college campuses after 15 months of escalating antisemitic violence and unrest.” Shabbos Kestenbaum, who is currently suing Harvard university for failing to protect him and fellow Jewish students from rampant antisemitism, tells the Sun that he was “elated” by the executive order. “It is excellent news for Jewish students who’ve been battling antisemitism on their college campuses,” Mr. Kestenbaum says, adding that he hopes the “deportations of foreign students who violated American laws will begin promptly.” Eyal Yakoby, who is suing the University of Pennsylvania for similar reasons, tells the Sun that “President Trump is doing what the previous administration was too weak to do.” He adds that “it’s a privilege to be in this country, not a right.” Just how the administration will go about enforcing such deportations remains unclear. It won’t be difficult, however, for Mr. Trump’s cabinet to find evidence of anti-Israel student activists openly praising American-designated foreign terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.One of the largest student activist networks, Students for Justice in Palestine, is currently being sued for acting as the “propaganda arm” of Hamas “operating in plain sight.” Another prominent anti-Israel student group, Jewish Voice for Peace, was recently accused by a pro-Israel advocacy group, StandWithUs, of being tied to terrorist organizations such as the Palestinian prisoner advocacy group, Samidoun.

Trump, in Landmark Executive Order Aimed at Campus Antisemitism, Puts ‘Hamas Sympathizers’ on ‘Notice.’

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