President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a decree aimed at fighting anti-Semitism, including the expulsion of foreign students and other people who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, an official of the White House announced on Wednesday, January 29.
An information sheet linked to this order provides for “immediate actions” of the Department of Justice against “terrorist threats, criminal fires, vandalism and violence targeting American Jews”. She also specifies that all federal resources will be mobilized to fight against “increased anti -Semitism on campuses and in the streets”.
“To all resident foreigners who have taken part in pro-jihadist demonstrations, know that from 2025, we will find you and expel you. I will also revoke student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on university campuses, which have never been so radicalized, “said Trump in this information sheet.
Since October 7, 2023 pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the United States, have disrupted university campuses. At the same time, civil rights groups have reported an increase in anti-Semitic, anti-arab and Islamophobic incidents.
The order requires that federal agency officials submit to the White House, within 60 days, recommendations on legal means that can be used to combat anti-Semitism.
The document also mentions that some pro-Hamas demonstrators would have prevented Jewish students from accessing their courses, attacked faithful in synagogues and vandalized monuments and statues in the United States.
The American-Islamic Relations Council (CAIR), the main Defense group for the rights of Muslims in the United States, denounced an attack on “freedom of expression and the Palestinian cause on the pretext of fighting anti-Semitism”, describing the order as “dishonest and inapplicable”.
During his 2024 election campaign, Donald Trump had promised to expel foreign students whom he considers “pro-Hamas”.
From the first day in power, he had already signed a decree that human rights organizations consider preparing the return of an entry ban for travelers from Muslim or Arab majority countries, while expanding the criteria to refuse visas and expel certain people for ideological reasons.
