Trump Signs Executive Order Combating Anti-Semitism on College Campuses

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 20, 2025. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 to combat anti-Semitism in the United States, particularly on college and university campuses.

The executive order allows students on U.S. visas to be deported if they express views that, for example, support the terrorist group Hamas. The group was behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which was the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

The massacre led to fighting between Israel and Hamas, which has since been halted—at least temporarily—because of a cease-fire implemented earlier this month.

In a fact sheet obtained by The Epoch Times, the White House stated that since the assault in 2023, “pro-Hamas aliens and left-wing radicals began a campaign of intimidation, vandalism, and violence on the campuses and streets of America.”

The Trump administration stated in the fact sheet that these individuals have been “celebrating Hamas’ mass rape, kidnapping, and murder, they physically blocked Jewish Americans from attending college classes, obstructed synagogues and assaulted worshippers, and vandalized American monuments and statues.”

Outside groups both praised and criticized the executive order.

“Many students have felt forced to hide their Jewish identities. No one should be forced to conceal who they are, at their very core,” Sarah Stern, founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth, told The Epoch Times.

“When one is feeling that he or she is in [a] hostile environment, and are feeling intimidated, bullied, or threatened, simply for walking across the campus or the quad, how can these students be amenable to classroom instruction? We need to offer our Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli students the very same protections as any other minority group in the United States.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the move goes against the First Amendment.

“Free speech is a cornerstone of our Constitution that no president can wipe away with an executive order,” CAIR said in a statement.

“Like the college students who once protested segregation, the Vietnam War, and apartheid South Africa, the diverse collection of college students who protested against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza deserve our country’s thanks.”

The United States has stated that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza.

There were 1,039 reported incidents of anti-Semitism on campuses during the 2024–2025 academic year, according to Hillel International, which provides resources and services, such as Sabbath meals, to Jewish students on campuses.

The number of incidents is a spike compared to the period between July 2022 and December 2022, when 135 such incidents were reported.

Between Oct. 7, 2023, and Sept. 24, 2024, there were more than 10,000 instances of anti-Semitism, a 200 percent increase from the period between Oct. 7, 2022, and Sept. 24, 2023, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Trump said in his fact sheet: “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.”

In December 2019, during his first presidency, Trump signed an executive order to apply Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to Jewish people. Title VI prohibits educational institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating against people based on national origin, color, and race. The House passed a bill last year to codify this into law, but the Senate did not bring it up for a vote.

During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to protect Jewish Americans.

“My promise to Jewish Americans is this: With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House,” he said in September 2024.

Shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” which included calling on the administration to “recommend any actions necessary to protect the American people from the actions of foreign nationals who have undermined or seek to undermine the fundamental constitutional rights of the American people, including ... [providing] aid, advocacy, or support for foreign terrorists.”