Trump pledges to deport ‘Hamas sympathisers’ on college campuses

As part of a crackdown on alleged anti-Semitism, American President Donald Trump has pledged to deport foreign university students who are involved in pro-Palestinian protests, causing outrage from free speech and Muslim advocacy organizations.

Trump stated in an executive order on Wednesday that the government would use “all available and appropriate legal tools” to prosecute and remove those who commit “unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.”

“Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination, denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms, and intimidation, harassment, and physical threats and assault”, Trump’s order said.

According to a fact sheet on the order that the White House made available, “all” student visa holders who took part in “pro-jihadist protests” on campus would be subject to the crackdown.

“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”, Trump said in the fact sheet.

“I’ll also immediately revoke all Hamas sympathizers’ student visas on college campuses, which have experienced unprecedented radicalism.”

It was not immediately clear how broadly authorities might interpret definitions such as “anti-Semitism” and “pro-jihadist”.

Trump’s comments on his fact sheet appeared to suggest more radical action than the text of his order, despite using existing law that permits visa revocations in a wide range of circumstances.

According to the order, Trump directed the secretary of state, secretary of education, and secretary of homeland security to familiarize universities with a section of immigration law governing “inadmissible aliens” and make sure that reports of activities that violate the admissibility criteria prompt “investigations and, if necessary, actions to remove such aliens”

Foreign nationals can be classified as “inadmissible aliens” under a variety of circumstances, including a conviction for a crime, under US immigration law.

In those circumstances, there are instances where authorities have “reasonably believed” a person to be engaged in various forms of unlawful activity or have established that they are “associated with a terrorist organization.”

Trump’s order drew swift condemnation from a number of rights organisations.

“Like the college students who once protested segregation, the Vietnam war, and apartheid South Africa, the diverse collection of college students who protested against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza deserve our country’s thanks”, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.

“The Trump administration’s attempt to smear the many Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian and other college students who protested the Israeli government’s genocide in overwhelmingly peaceful ways represents a dishonest, overbroad and unenforceable attack on both free speech and the humanity of Palestinians, all for the sake of a foreign government. So is the administration’s apparent threat to deport any foreign student who merely participated in anti-genocide protests”.

The revocation of student visas should not be used “to punish and filter out ideas disfavored by the federal government,” according to FIRE, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting free speech.

The exchange of the broadest range of views, even unpopular or dissented ones, is what the group said in a statement.

“Students who commit crimes – including vandalism, threats, or violence – must face consequences, and those consequences may include the loss of a visa. However, if the executive order of today goes beyond the First Amendment’s protection of illegal speech to punish students who protest or express themselves in other ways, it must be withdrawn.

As Israel engaged in a Gaza-related war, pro-Palestinian protests erupted on dozens of US university campuses last spring.

The demonstrations, which spread to top universities including Harvard, Yale and Columbia, prompted heated debate and recriminations over alleged anti-Semitism in higher education.

Pro-Palestinian students and activists accused university authorities of using anti-Semitism as a means to stop legitimate criticism of Israel, despite the fact that some Jewish students reported violent, intimidated, and harassed protesters.

Source: Aljazeera