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Trump Signs Executive Order Revoking Student Visas of Pro-Hamas Students

Jewish groups are split in their response; many applauding the president’s action, others bringing up First Amendment concerns.
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January 29, 2025
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Spencer Platt/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 revoking student visas for students that participated in pro-Hamas protests and activities on campus.

The executive order states in part: “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. It shall be the policy of the United States to combat antisemitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.” In a White House fact sheet, Trump said “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” and that he will “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

Some praised the executive order. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) posted in a thread on X that it welcomes the order, as the group has “has long supported holding those accountable who harass, intimidate, or attack Jewish students and faculty — and break the law. We hope holding perpetrators accountable to the full extent of the law will protect more Jewish students. There must be real consequences for those who commit violent crimes. Obviously, any immigration-related ramifications must be consistent with due process and existing federal statutes and regulations and should not be used to target individuals for their constitutionally protected speech.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) posted on X, “If you’re a student who is here on a visa and you’re breaking laws, committing crimes and aligning with terrorist organizations that seek the destruction of the United States, you should have your visa revoked. A visa is not a right but a privilege, and that privilege, once abused, should be revoked.”

Columbia University Professor Shai Davidai posted to X, “I came to the U.S. on a student visa and treated it as a contract. As long as I fulfilled my end and didn’t break any laws, I got to stay. Welcome to adulthood.”

“I came to the U.S. on a student visa and treated it as a contract. As long as I fulfilled my end and didn’t break any laws, I got to stay. Welcome to adulthood.” – Prof. Shai Davidai

Shabbos Kestenbaum, a recent Harvard University graduate who is suing his alma mater over the university’s handling of antisemitism on campus, posted on X, “This is precisely why I supported [Trump]. Jewish American students will finally receive Justice. Joe Biden could have done this at any point, and didn’t.”

Others were critical.

“J Street finds it deeply concerning that President Trump today called for deporting noncitizen students simply for participating in protests on campuses that we may find offensive or uninformed,” J Street posted to X. “We will be watching closely to see whether the actual executive order — which itself does not call for such deportations — is enforced in accordance with American laws & the Constitution. We oppose any deportation grounded solely in the content of a student’s beliefs & opinions.”

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action CEO Jamie Beran said in a statement that the executive order “is an excuse to exploit real Jewish fear and trauma to enact authoritarian policies — policies that functionally make all Americans, including Jews, unsafe. It’s the latest cynical attempt by Republicans to use antisemitism and Jews as a tool to divide and attack their perceived enemies to further their dangerous authoritarian agenda. Jews know from our history that policies limiting free speech and activism and targeting other marginalized communities have never kept Jewish people safe. Jewish safety depends on our freedom to dissent and our solidarity with other targeted groups — including Jews who belong to those groups. And we can only fight antisemitism in solidarity. All antisemitism is harmful — no matter where it comes from — but this reported executive order doesn’t actually fight antisemitism. Functionally, this is an executive order to deport activists and attack all of our Constitutional rights to free speech. It’s an excuse to target, silence, and persecute even more immigrants — particularly Arab, Muslim and Palestinian immigrants — all disguised as a policy to promote Jewish safety.” Beran further contended that “the order also promotes the false premise that Jews and Israel are one entity. This idea reinforces the antisemitic ‘dual-loyalty’ trope. Jews feel many ways about Israel and Palestine, and the protests on college campuses have included and continue to include many Jewish participants.”

Jewish Voice for Peace Executive Director Stefanie Fox said in a statement, “We stand with the student protestors who so bravely put their bodies and academic careers on the line to save lives and demand an end to the Israeli military’s destruction of Gaza. As Jews we refuse to be pawns in the far-Right’s authoritarian takeover. Trump and his cronies do not care about Jewish safety — in fact, they and the White Nationalists who support them are themselves the greatest threat to American Jews. They are waging a campaign against all those who are brave enough to challenge their power.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) took a bit of a neutral approach, stating that “students who commit crimes — including vandalism, threats, or violence — must face consequences, and those consequences may include the loss of a visa. But if today’s executive order reaches beyond illegal activity to instead punish students for protest or expression otherwise protected by the First Amendment, it must be withdrawn.”

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