Trump Orders Deportation of Foreign Students in Pro-Palestine Protests

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order promising “immediate action” against non-citizen college students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations during Israel’s war in Gaza.

The order directs federal law enforcement to find and deport “resident aliens” who joined protests, according to a White House fact sheet. “Come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said.

The order empowers colleges and universities to “monitor for and report activities” by “alien students and staff” for potential removal from the United States. Trump pledged to “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses.”

Government agencies have 60 days to produce a report on legal tools to “curb or combat” antisemitism, including an inventory of campus-related complaints.

Civil rights organizations warn the order may be unconstitutional. 

“The First Amendment protects everyone in the United States, including foreign citizens studying at American universities,” Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute, said in an interview with Times of Israel. “Deporting non-citizens on the basis of their political speech would be unconstitutional.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called it “a dishonest, overbroad and unenforceable attack on both free speech and the humanity of Palestinians” in a statement. 

This follows widespread campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war, with estimates suggesting more than 3,000 students were arrested across the US. Universities will maintain significant influence over implementation. Harvard University recently settled antisemitism complaints ahead of the new administration, seen as a move to preempt increased scrutiny.

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