Donald
Trump has pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who
took part in pro-Palestinian protests as part of a crackdown on
antisemitism, a White House official said.
The
US president said college campuses "have been infected with radicalism"
and that he was putting "Hamas sympathisers" who took part in the
marches "on notice".
He was due to sign an executive order on Wednesday, local time.
A
fact sheet on the order promises "immediate action" by the Justice
Department to prosecute "terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and
violence against American Jews" and marshal all federal resources to
combat what it called "the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and
streets" since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian
Islamist group Hamas.
"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," the US
president said in the fact sheet.
"I
will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathisers on
college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never
before."
The Hamas attacks and
the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of
pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses, with civil
rights groups documenting rising antisemitic, anti-Arab and Islamophobic
incidents.
The order will
require agency and department leaders to provide the White House with
recommendations within 60 days on all criminal and civil authorities
that could be used to fight antisemitism, and would demand "the removal
of resident aliens who violate our laws."
The
fact sheet said protesters engaged in pro-Hamas vandalism and
intimidation, blocked Jewish students from attending classes and
assaulted worshippers at synagogues, as well as vandalising US monuments
and statues.
Many
pro-Palestinian protesters denied supporting Hamas or engaging in
antisemitic acts, and said they were demonstrating against Israel's
military assault on Gaza, where health authorities say more than 47,000
people have been killed.
'Assault on free speech'
The
Council on American-Islamic Relations, a large Muslim advocacy group,
accused the Trump administration of an assault on "free speech and
Palestinian humanity under the guise of combating antisemitism," and
described Wednesday's order as "dishonest, overbroad and unenforceable."
During
his 2024 election campaign, Mr Trump promised to deport those he called
"pro-Hamas" students in the United States on visas.
On
his first day in office, he signed an executive order that rights
groups say lays the groundwork for the reinstatement of a ban on
travelers from predominantly Muslim or Arab countries, and offers wider
authorities to use ideological exclusion to deny visa requests and
remove individuals already in the country.
Reuters
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