The US will combat antisemitism “vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools” to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of “unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence,” according to an executive order President Donald Trump signed on Wednesday night.
In the order, Trump said the attacks of October 7 unleashed an “unprecedented wave of vile antisemitic discrimination, vandalism, and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses.”
“Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination; denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms; and intimidation, harassment, and physical threats and assault,” the order said.
The order calls for heads of each executive agency to submit a report within 60 days identifying all civil and criminal authorities or actions that might be used to combat antisemitism, as well as an analysis of all complaints against institutions of higher education post-October 7.
According to the order, the Secretaries of State, education, and Homeland Security should include recommendations for “familiarizing institutions of higher education with the grounds for inadmissibility” under federal law so that institutions may monitor and report students and staff who are undocumented or on visas.
If warranted, the order states institutions have grounds for “removing such aliens.”
Response to the executive order
Ari Shrage, president of the Columbia Jewish Alumni Association, praised the executive order.
“Columbia has been ground zero for the anti-Israel protests. Unfortunately, despite our pleas, the University’s administration and Trustees continue issuing empty statements and not addressing the problems,” Shrage told The Jerusalem Post. “Going to an Ivy League school is a privilege. Students who come here on visas and harass Jewish students should no longer have the right to stay in America. It’s not a surprise that this legislation is focused on Columbia.”
The Nexus Project, a Jewish organization countering antisemitism and fighting its weaponization in politics, strongly condemned President Trump’s order.
Jonathan Jacoby, national director of the Nexus Project, said the executive order “cynically weaponizes legitimate concerns about Jewish safety to suppress constitutionally protected speech and threaten vulnerable student populations.”
Columbia/Barnard Hillel did not return the Post’s request for comment.
The Post has also reached out to Columbia’s Task Force on Antisemitism.
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