Trump cracks down on college campus support for Hamas with new executive order

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at combating antisemitism on college campuses and pledging to crack down on non-citizens and resident alien “Hamas sympathizers” who took part in pro-Palestinian protests at schools across the country.

A White House fact sheet said the Justice Department will “aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews.” 

“To all the resident aliens who joined the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: Come 2025 we will find you and we will deport you,” Mr. Trump said in a statement. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.” 

The order directs federal resources toward combating antisemitism on college campuses and requires executive agencies to come up with criminal and civil actions to fight antisemitism and present the ideas to the White House within 60 days. In addition, the Justice Department will investigate pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation. 

Antisemitism exploded on college campuses following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel. Pro-Palestinian protests shut down universities last spring as students railed against Israel, with roughly 3,200 arrests. Classes and some commencements were canceled.

The Biden administration opened more than 100 investigations into allegations of antisemitism with many of those schools reaching deals to settle the cases before Mr. Trump took office amid fears he would issue stricter penalties. 

The order comes as part of a series of education orders issued by  Mr. Trump, including others increasing school choice and defunding schools that teach critical race theory.