Trump signs order to deport pro-Palestinian student protesters, revoke visas

Council on American-Islamic Relations expressed plans to pursue legal action against the order. They stressed the "discriminative" order would suppress political expression.

The newly elected US President Donald Trump reportedly signed an executive order that seeks punishment for international students and resident aliens who repeatedly participated in college campus pro-Palestinian rallies which he claims led to an “explosion of antisemitism” after Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.

The executive order signed on Wednesday, January 29 aims the deportation of non-citizen student protesters who support Palestine with the simultaneous cancellation of their student visas.

Trump issued a direct statement warning “All resident aliens who participate in pro-jihadist protests that we will identify you in 2025. We will find you, and we will deport you”.

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According to the directive, Justice Department officials must immediately initiate actions targeting what the administration defines as “terroristic threats, vandalism, and violence against American Jews.”

All federal agencies have been ordered to submit advisory suggestions about legal approaches to combat campus antisemitism within 60 days.

Condemnation

Several human rights organizations and legal scholars have condemned the decision by the Trump administration stating that the order infringes upon free speech provisions in the constitution.

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Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) plans to pursue legal action against the order. They stressed that the discriminative order would suppress political expression.

Executive orders targeting pro-Palestinian student demonstrations emerged after several universities in the US witnessed massive campus protests against Israel’s military offence in war-torn Gaza that led killing of lakhs of Palestinian civilians including minors and women.

Several law experts including Carrie DeCell, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute and a lecturer in law at Columbia Law School condemned the decision and stated that the First Amendment protects everyone in the United States, including foreign students.

The order came after a series of educational policies by the Trump administration that simultaneously promoted school choice initiatives and restricted discussions about race and gender within educational institutions.

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