President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) last week that ordered law enforcement to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses, including removing pro-Hamas activists with student visas from the country. Now, schools across the country are navigating how they plan to deal with antisemitism, potential deportations and federal government investigations.
The White House reiterated in a fact sheet about the EO that its goal is to protect the civil rights of Jewish citizens, prosecute antisemitic crimes, deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas.
“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. 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 White House fact sheet reads.
Additionally, an Education Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it is investigating educational institutions that receive federal funds, rather than students, to determine if they have violated Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
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“It is possible, but not predetermined, that in order to comply with Title VI, a recipient of federal funds may be required to take action concerning individuals, including disciplining students found to have engaged in harassing and unlawful conduct,” the spokesperson said.
A student protester waves a large Palestinian flag at their encampment on the Columbia University campus on Monday, April 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
The EO directive gives all federal agencies a 60-day window to identify civil and criminal authorities available to combat antisemitism and deport anti-Jewish activists who broke any laws as a result of the explosion of antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.
“It shall be the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence,” the EO reads.
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The EO expands on a directive that Trump implemented during his first administration that was effectively nullified by the Biden administration. The EO cites “an unprecedented wave of vile anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism, and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses” in which Jewish students have faced discrimination, denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, intimidation, harassment, as well as physical threats and assault.
The Education Department’s civil rights division announced on Monday that it had launched antisemitism investigations into Columbia, Northwestern, Portland State University, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Minnesota.
A student walks in the anti-Israel encampment on the Main Quad at the University of Chicago. (AP/Nam Y. Huh)
“Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: This administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Education Department, told the WSJ.
Universities, including UC Berkeley, Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University issued statements to students and Fox News Digital condemning antisemitism.
UC Berkeley, for example, said its commitment to confronting antisemitism was strengthened in 2015, when the university established the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Jewish Student Life and Campus Climate. Then in 2019, the university launched the Antisemitism Education Initiative.
Universities, including UC Berkeley, Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University issued statements to students and Fox News Digital condemning antisemitism. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
When reached for comment, the University of Pennsylvania pointed to its Office of Religious and Ethnic Inclusion, which, in compliance with Title VI, reportedly prevents and responds to issues and reports involving alleged discrimination and harassment based on an individual or group’s religion or ethnicity.
Rutgers University told Fox News Digital that its Jewish community is a point of pride for the university and that any claims of antisemitism are investigated and reviewed, and where appropriate, disciplinary or remedial actions are taken.
“We are tracking developments regarding the actions the federal government has taken over the past two weeks and are working to understand how recent federal executive orders may affect our university community,” the university said to Fox News Digital.
