Jewish community responds to Trump executive order vowing to deport pro-Hamas activists with student visas

Following an explosion of antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) on Wednesday that ordered law enforcement to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses, including removing pro-Hamas activists with student visas from the country. 

“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. 

The 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. 

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.

In response, Brandy Shufutinsky, the director of education and community engagement with the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, said that while free speech is a fundamental right of Americans, some hide behind that right when they engage in discriminatory and violent behavior. 

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“One’s free speech does not give them license to threaten and harass others,” Shufutinsky said. “Individuals who are in our country by invitation should have that invitation rescinded when they engage in behaviors that violate the civil rights of our citizens.”

Sarah Stern, founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), echoed a similar sentiment, questioning why the U.S. would allow foreign students into the country and on university campuses when they support foreign terrorist organizations.  

“As so much of the incitement against Jewish students on our nation’s campuses has originated from foreign, outside provocateurs, this step goes a long way towards returning sanity and decency to our nation’s college campuses,” Stern said to Fox News Digital.  

“There has been an absolute tsunami of antisemitism in the US, particularly since October 7th,” she added. “That is why EMET strongly supports President Trump’s Executive Order, which will help you return sanity to our college campuses.”

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Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of the Jewish educational non-profit Aish, told Fox News Digital that as an American Jew and a rabbi who works closely with students on college campuses, he has been deeply concerned about the rise of antisemitism and pro-Hamas sentiment at U.S. educational institutions over the past 16 months. 

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“There is a very real threat posed to U.S. colleges by those who support terrorist organizations like Hamas,” he said. “Many Jewish students have been living in fear for more than a year. Many have come to physical harm and suffered violence, intimidation, threats, alienation, and aggressive protests by those who came to the United States under the guise of receiving an education.”

Burg believes that foreigners who perpetrate hate against any group in America should lose their ability to study in the U.S. as such actions are antithetical to American values. 

“Students should focus on getting an education to make the world a better place,” he said. “They should not be focusing on terrorizing other students. The proposed action to deport foreign students who participated in pro-Hamas protests sends a clear message that America will not tolerate the spread of hatred and violence against Jewish students, or anyone else,” he told Fox News Digital.

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House Republicans released a report last month that urged the federal government to do more to combat antisemitism, including by conditioning federal aid to colleges to incentivize more strict policies against anti-Jewish bias, the New York Post reported. The report came after Columbia University and other major schools were host to anti-Israel encampments on campus, where numerous antisemitic incidents were reported after Oct. 7. 

Republicans accused Biden’s State Department and Department of Homeland Security of stonewalling requests for the number of visa holders among those anti-Israel agitators, the GOP report said, according to the Post.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.