President Donald Trump has ordered the deportation of foreign students who participated in pro-Hamas protests on college campuses in the United States.
A new executive order will target foreign residents, including students with visas, who violated the law during protests following the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel.
Trump said he would direct his Justice Department to “aggressively pursue terrorist threats, arsons, vandalism and violence against American Jews.
”He added: “To all foreign residents who participated in pro-jihadist demonstrations, we are warning you… we will find you and deport you.“I will immediately revoke the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, who have become infected with radicalism like never before.”
It is the latest in a series of orders that Trump has signed since becoming president, as he seeks to fulfill campaign promises. Many Universities, particularly Columbia University in New York, have become the scene of pro-Palestinian protests last year during the war between Israel and Hamas.
The affected students have made loud demands that their universities cut financial ties with Israel and that the United States end its military support for its longtime ally. Trump’s latest order gives the leaders of government agencies and departments 60 days to provide the White House with advice on how to identify anti-Semitic threats.This comes after the US president invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week.
He will become the first foreign leader to visit Israel during Trump’s second term.Trump’s latest executive order, to be signed Wednesday, is his second to address anti-Semitism. He signed another executive order last week that called for the deportation of foreign visa holders who “protect, assist, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.
”At a rally in New Jersey last May, Trump vowed, “When I am president, we will not allow our universities to be taken over by violent radicals.” And if you come from another country and try to bring jihadism, anti-Americanism, or anti-Semitism to our campuses, we will deport you immediately.”