The College Fix

Some argue the deportations could violate the constitution if implemented

President Trump has signed an executive order pledging to crack down on rampant antisemitism on college campuses and across the nation, and in a corresponding fact sheet threatened to cancel the student visa of those who support Hamas and deport them.

“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. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” Trump stated in the fact sheet.

The order called on federal agencies to take an aggressive, hardline approach to stamp out antisemitism on colleges campuses and in the nation at large.

The order comes on the heels of the deadly Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians, and the chaos on campuses that followed. At colleges and universities nationwide, pro-Palestinian protesters camped out on quads, took over buildings, destroyed property and bullied and threatened Jewish students.

Trump’s order cites a joint report by congressional committees stating the federal government failed to fight antisemitism and protect Jewish students, adding: “This failure is unacceptable and ends today.”

The Guardian reported that deporting students may be unconstitutional:

Although the executive order itself does not call directly for deportations, the idea of cracking down on student protesters involved with pro-Palestine efforts became a Trump 2024 campaign promise and a prominent talking point on the right in the US. Republicans have broadly sought to portray protests against Israel’s offensive in Gaza as expressions of support for Hamas, and have called to punish universities that don’t quash them. …

Critics argued that the reference to deportations in the fact sheet could violate the US constitution if implemented.

“Immigration enforcement that is predicated on protected speech is unconstitutional,” said Ben Wizner, director of the speech, privacy and technology project at the American Civil Liberties Union. “We think the order potentially will invite overreaching illegal law enforcement and immigration actions, but we’ll just have to see.”

Every federal executive department must review and report to the White House within 60 days “on all criminal and civil authorities and actions available for fighting anti-Semitism,” according to the fact sheet.

The Secretary of Education must also “include an inventory and an analysis of all Title VI complaints and administrative actions, including in K-12 education, related to anti-Semitism — pending or resolved after October 7, 2023 — within the Department’s Office for Civil Rights,” the order states.

Under the order, the Department of Justice must also take immediate action to “quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” the fact sheet states.

MORE: UC Berkeley removes Hamas rape denial info from ‘Queer Solidarities with Palestine’ event

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