Introduction
Among the students involved in the pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. colleges and universities during the 2023-24 academic year were foreign students on special visas. These protests included aggressively demonstrating and setting up encampments, harassing and bullying pro-Israel and Jewish students and professors, vandalizing school property, and even committing crimes on campus.
The foreign students involved in these actions, who have come from all over the world to study at prestigious universities, have instead devoted their time to organizing and attending protests and harassing Jewish-American students in the year after the October 7 attacks. While they have generally gone unpunished for these activities, it appears that their antisemitic activity will soon come to an end and they will be paying a heavy price.
On January 20, 2025, the day that President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second time, his administration issued an executive order, titled "Protecting The United States From Foreign Terrorists And Other National Security And Public Safety Threats," that stated: "It is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes," and that "the United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security." This certainly applies to what has been occurring on college campuses.
In addition, some prominent Members of Congress who were leaders in the fight against these protests and focusing on the protestors will now hold senior cabinet positions in the new administration. Take for example the exchange then-Senator Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State, had with Senator McCormick during his secretary of state confirmation hearing:
Senator McCormick: "Since October 7, there's been a disturbing rise in antisemitism, pro-terrorist violence in our cities, on college campuses. You and I had the opportunity to write an op-ed together. And in that op-ed we called on foreign nationals who support Hamas or other terrorist organizations to lose their visas and, uh, to be sent back to their home countries. As Secretary of State, of course, you'll be responsible for overseeing the issuance of visas. How will you enforce our laws to ensure that we remove supporters of terrorist groups from our country?"
Senator Rubio: "So, my view in this is one of common sense, okay. If you apply for a visa to come into the United States and in the process of being looked at, it comes to light that you're a supporter of Hamas, we wouldn't let you in. If we knew you were a supporter of Hamas we would not give you a visa. So now that you got the visa and you're inside the US and now we realize you're a supporter of Hamas, we should remove your visa. If you cannot come in because you're a supporter of Hamas, you should not be able to stay on a visa if you're a supporter of Hamas. That's how I view it and, and I think that's just an issue of common sense, and, uh, and we intend to be very forceful about that."
Senator McCormick: "Good. Thank you."
In addition to these students on visas, since October 7, 2023, sheikhs from leading Islamist and terrorist-linked organizations in the U.S. – Samidoun, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim American Society (MAS), and other Muslim Brotherhood affiliates – have been operating on American campuses to instigate, promote, and support anti-Israel and, in many cases, antisemitic activity on campus.
Islamist sheikhs and professors from abroad have also participated in online conferences with student activists and encampment participants. They have included the influential Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan, an open promoter of jihad, who has praised the October 7 attack and called on supporters to "let the mujahideen do their work," and who also urges Muslims to plan to "wipe out Israel."
In July 2024, he discussed the hadiths according to which Islam’s Prophet Muhammad assured Muslims that they would fight the Jews in the end times, when the Jews will hide behind the rocks and trees, and that the Muslims will conquer Istanbul and Rome. He also praised how the "action" on Western university campuses, such as the Sorbonne and Harvard, was led by young Muslims including his daughter who "mobilized" the Western students, and underlined how the October 7 attack, which he said had awakened the Islamic nation, was "a one-day victory followed by pain, destruction, and genocide, but it will change history."
Earlier, Al-Suwaidan had spent several years as an Islamic leader in Tulsa, Oklahoma, opening schools and establishing organizations that are still operating; since then, he has been banned from entering several countries, including the U.S. due to his antisemitism and his blatant support for terrorism. His daughter, Mafaz Al-Suwaidan, is a doctoral candidate and Prize Fellow in Philosophy of Religion at Harvard University's Committee on the Study of Religion; she is involved in anti-Israel activity on campus, including posting a photo of the statue of John Harvard on campus in a kaffiyeh and Palestinian flag and writing "Harvard has never looked better." In one interview, Al-Suwaidan discussed and praised her activity and that of other students.
It should be noted that highlighting her activism, in December 2018, Mafaz Al-Suwaidan met with new Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Boston, "talking Palestine, activism, & policy." She posted about it on social media.
Another jihadi who has been active speaking remotely from overseas to students at campus encampments since October 7, 2023 is Sami Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida and Islamist political activist who was deported to Turkey in 2015 after criminal proceedings found him guilty of links to Palestinian terror groups; in 2006, he had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide services to the designated terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In May 2024, he held, via Zoom, a "Talk With Dr. Sami Al-Arian" on Day 3 of the "Encampment Events" at the "UChicago Popular University for Gaza" or "UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP)" encampment on the University of Chicago campus. These and other cases need to be examined by counterterrorism officials and the U.S. government.
At the same time, student groups supported by these extremists, sheikhs, and professors include Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which is coming under increasing scrutiny for their extremist activity and open support for designated terrorist organizations, including being banned on many campuses. The strategy of these groups and leaders is to destroy mainstream Jewish organizations on campus, such as Hillel and Chabad.
Islamist organizations have been sending extremist imams to encampments and giving spiritual guidance to students. This effort was the focus of an October 18, 2024 lecture at the Islamic Society of Central Jersey by American Islamic scholar Suhaib Webb, who discussed the need for "a sheikh there in the encampment" to prayers for SJP groups, and "talk about the heroes of Palestine" and how to defeat Zionism.
Another of these organizations is American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). An AMP official, Taher Herzallah, in a December 2023 lecture on pro-Palestinian student activism, explained in detail the top priority of Muslim organizations after the October 7 attack: "The Zionists are really going to regret the day that they made the Muslims their enemy... when we talk about student activism, this is the moment, this is the time to agitate, to make Zionists feel very uncomfortable on campus."
Saying "We are clear about our objectives. Free Palestine, from the River to the Sea. Don't let anybody make you feel uncomfortable about saying that, because we don't follow their moral authority," he added: "We are Muslims. We believe in Allah. We will enforce... we will bring the rules that Allah gave us to this earth, because that's what we were sent for."
In October 2023, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares had announced that his office "has reason to believe" that AMP had "knowingly used or permitted the use of funds raised by a solicitation of contributions to provide support to terrorists, terrorist organizations, terrorist activities, or family members of terrorists." Months later, in June 2024, AMP was still refusing to turn over documents and communications in its possession related to the funding of pro-Hamas propaganda and illegal encampments across the U.S., after being asked to do so numerous times by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. In July, AMP was ordered by a Virginia court to comply with the Virgina attorney general's request.
Designated terrorists themselves have been lauding the efforts on U.S. campuses and encouraging them to fully infiltrate the West. In June, Hizbullah official Mohammad Raad, who heads the terror organization's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc in the Lebanese parliament, said that Hizbullah needs to "invest" in Western pro-Palestinian students in order to use them to "enter the heart" of Western societies.
Hizbullah official Ali Al-Hajj Hassan, of the organization's Cultural Mobilization Department, spoke on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV in August 2024 about Hizbullah's efforts to mobilize students in the West for the 2024-5 academic year. Stating that he had "participated in a symposium with young people from America, Britain, and various other countries," he stressed that there was a need to create a "Palestine Force" of "resisting" students and professors worldwide to "carry the spirit of the mujahideen." He added that "we told the[se] student organizations and youth activists that their voice is loud and that they should raise it as much as they can, and fill the public squares and universities, and the social media platforms in their countries, in defense of Palestine," and that "they have great impact on the battle to stop the aggression against this oppressed people."
The Canada-based senior PFLP official Khaled Barakat, who, along with the Samidoun organization with which he is affiliated, was recently sanctioned by both the U.S. and Canada for fundraising for the designated terrorist PFLP, credited Western students' education systems for their activism. He spoke on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV in March 2024 about the actual progress his movement has made in influencing school curricula to be anti-U.S. and anti-Israel, priming them for later indoctrination, and added that today's American and Canadian students support armed resistance and the elimination of "the Zionist entity."
"This generation," he said, "gives voice to this position because it has more access to information and facts, as a result of the new technology and the social media platforms, but also due to a very important development at the universities and high schools – the introduction of colonialism, racism, and slavery studies into history curricula."
Summer And Fall 2024 On Campus
During the summer of 2024, following spring semester and graduation, the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests on campuses and in major cities had, on the surface, died down. But this was only, as warned by organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a hiatus for planning even louder and more disruptive protests in the new academic year.
For example,in late July, New York University's Palestine Solidarity Committee, renamed the People's Solidarity Coalition, aka the People's Front, and comprising 44 NYU-affiliated organizations, announced a new mission in a "Statement of Intention" that hinted that it was prepared to use violence in its fight to "dismantle" the university's "involvement in settler-colonial occupation, genocide and imperial wars" and that its members "recognize and welcome the diversity of tactics that lead to victory." Among these are "armed struggle, non-violent direct action, cultural production, and world building."
The organization added in the announcement that it would "not condemn the brave actions of our allies nor will we limit ourselves to resistance through organizational means" and stressed: "When we take up the struggle against the Zionist entity, we take on the global fight against U.S. imperialism and its violences." Following the July 25, 2024 release of a statement by the NYU spokesperson, the announcement was taken down, but was then was reposted.
American universities themselves, as well as extremist professors and even designated terrorist organizations in the U.S. and the West, have for years been laying the groundwork for this kind of extremist pro-Palestinian activism. It did not begin with incidents like Columbia's Joseph Massad calling the October 7 attacks a "stunning victory" and Hamas's actions "astounding," "awesome," and "incredible."
Nor did it begin with Columbia's hiring, in January 2024, of North African-Egyptian Islamist anarchist Mohamed Abdou as Arcapita Visiting Professor in Modern Arab Studies – despite his repeated expressions of support for Hamas, Hizbullah, and Islamic Jihad beginning just after October 7, 2023, and the university's statements that he had been fired when there was ample evidence to the contrary.
The "summer reading list" circulated in July by a chapter of the SJP includes seminal texts from the PFLP – its 1969 book Strategy for the Liberation of Palestine – and Vladimir Lenin – his 1917 book The State and Revolution. It states, inter alia: "The only weapon left to the masses in order to restore history and progress and truly defeat enemies and potential enemies in the long run is revolutionary violence in confronting Zionist violence and reaction."
In August, a student negotiator at Columbia said, "We've been working all this summer on our plans." The director of the CAIR office in Maryland said, "There's definitely conversations happening regarding how they can continue to advocate," adding, "There have been some meetings that have been organized by some student leaders at different campuses to strategize ahead of the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year."
The Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), which has a presence on more than 100 U.S. college campuses, was reported in August to be planning a national student strike – absenting themselves from campus – in support of Hamas in the coming academic year, aimed at forcing universities to divest from Israel and to protect pro-Hamas activists from facing consequences for their campus activity. Some of the groups that comprise the Student Intifada, a growing coalition of pro-Palestinian anti-Israel organizations, condone the use of violence and aim for "the total eradication of Western civilization."
As this report details, some of the main student activists involved in groups like SJP, including their organizers, leaders, and active participants, are here on student visas. They have often been the loudest voices and those causing the most trouble, attracting the attention of both their universities and Members of Congress. An important part of Donald Trump's campaign platform was his promise to deport extremist, pro-Hamas foreign students. Some have been found to have violated university rules and there are questions about their possible deportation.
The report looks at how many of these students receive financial aid, presents statements by immigration officials on their possible deportation, lists examples of expulsions and deportations at universities outside the U.S., details discussions among lawmakers around deportation of these students, enumerates arrests and suspensions of pro-Hamas students, foreign and native-born Americans, and looks at on-campus activity by Islamist organizations such as CAIR and MAS, including webinars advising students on protests.
Over the past year, as the protests were taking place, many politicians warned that they would be taking action against foreign students involved in them. Universities became concerned, and issued directives to students to return to the U.S. before the inauguration of then-President-elect Trump on January 20, 2025.
It is notable that on January 24, 2025, the Columbia chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine posted on its Telegram channel photos and footage of "the eternal martyr Yahya Sinwar on the frontlines of the Al-Aqsa Flood."
International Students Play A Role In The Pro-Palestinian Protests And Are Receiving Financial Aid
It is notable that in the U.S. and around the world, students leading or taking other active roles in pro-Palestinian protest on campus or participating in them have come to Western countries on study visas. According to university websites and the National Center for Education Statistics, on average, at the U.S. elite universities where campus protests are in the news, international students comprise nearly 25% of the student population. Columbia had 39% foreign students enrolled for Fall 2023; Harvard's international students make up 22% of the student body, and they constitute 23% at University of Pennsylvania and Princeton. George Washington University has about 3,500 international students among its student body of nearly 26,000, and last year the University of Southern California had over 17,000 foreign students. For the 2023-4 academic year, the number of international students countrywide totaled over 1.1 million.
International students may be in the U.S. on any of a number of visas. The three main types are F, J, and M:
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F-1 Student Visa: for study at an accredited U.S. college or university or to study English at an English language institute;
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J-1 Exchange Visa: for participation in an exchange program, including high school and university study;
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M-1 Student Visa: for non-academic or vocational study or training in the United States.
While they are ineligible for federal student aid, international students can apply for financial aid from their university. According to the Institute for International Education, over 10% of undergraduate and over 45% of graduate international students in the U.S. receive primary funding from their school. Columbia, for example, awarded $19 million in international financial aid in the 2022-23 academic year; it states on its website that "[f]or admitted international students, Columbia will meet 100% of a family's demonstrated need" and that "[t]he average award for international financial aid recipients is $79,375, usually encompassing a Columbia grant, which does not have to be repaid, and a student work-study job."
The Impacts Of Expulsion For Foreign Students
For a foreign student, expulsion can have long-term repercussions, and not just on visa status. Such students may be unable to transfer to another school or pursue further studies in the U.S., and can also have difficulties obtaining other types of visas or reentering the U.S. for any purpose.
By law, schools have 21 days to inform the Department of Homeland Security of a suspension or of disciplinary action taken because of a criminal conviction. Once a student's record in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System is terminated, their presence in the U.S. becomes unlawful, and they have 15 days to leave the country.
Former Immigration Officials: Foreign Students May Be Violating The Conditions Of Their Visas By Participating In Pro-Palestinian Rallies
According to a former director of investigations at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, who was also an immigration judge, worked for USCIS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and held top positions at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, foreign students who are no longer attending classes because they are suspended are subject to deportation. He told The Washington Times in May 2024: "It's very straightforward. All ICE has to do is fill out the appropriate paperwork if the person has fallen out of status and say their status was revoked, and give them a bags-and-tags order and tell them it's time to go."
He added that students may also violate their visas just by participating in these rallies and protests, in the event that the government decides that doing so constitutes a security risk: "When you have people doing things like overtly supporting terrorist groups that hate the United States and threatening Jewish students, yeah, I think you're there."
According to the Department of Homeland Security, as of May 1, 2024, no one had yet been terminated from its student system. It added that the State Department could revoke their visa, but that this would not mean deportation. According to department statement, "[v]isa revocations are within the purview of the Department of State and when a student's visa is revoked, it is done as 'prudentially,' meaning it only prevents re-entry into the United States on that visa; it does not provide an independent basis for removal."
Emilio Gonzalez, who served as Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in the George W. Bush administration, said: "We put people on planes and send them to El Salvador for being here illegally. Why can't we put people on planes and send them back for being arrested for violence on university campuses?” He added that "the federal government has got to want to act" and that universities could be reluctant to act because a lot of these students "are paying the full ride, so of course the schools are going to do everything they can to make sure they don't get expelled because that's money the universities are losing.” He also said: "People try and dance around this like it's freedom of expression. No, if you are protesting on behalf of Hamas and get arrested, you have just violated your visa."
As has been pointed out by Harvard Law School alumnus Ben Badejo, "there are no First Amendment protections for non-citizens and non-nationals who espouse support for terrorism," and "the president's authority to enforce these laws is absolute." He added that the laws about being "inadmissible" do indeed make a person "deportable," stating that "8 USC1182(a)(3)(B)(inadmissible due to support of terrorism) is incorporated by reference into 8 USC 1227" (see Appendix for the full text of the relevant part of this legislation).
Foreign Students Involved In Pro-Palestinian Anti-Israel Protests On European Campuses Are Expelled And Deported – Are U.S. Universities Beginning To Follow Their Example?
One potential approach is expulsion and deportation, as already happens in the UK, Greece, and elsewhere. The first student to be have her visa revoked, in December 2023, was Dana Abuqamar, a Palestinian student at Manchester University who was filmed the day after the October 7 attack saying that she was "really full of joy" and "proud that Palestinian resistance has come to this point." A few months later in Greece in May 2024, nine international students from the UK and EU were among 28 students arrested during a protest and encampment at Athens Law School and deported, after being designated "unwanted aliens" and a threat to public order and national security. The evidence against them included leaflets, Palestinian flags, two smoke flares, gas masks, helmets, paint cans, and banner poles, along with a statement uploaded on a website in Greek and English urging others to join the protest.
It is notable that Pakistani national Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, who was arrested in Quebec and is facing terror charges in both the U.S. and Canada for plotting to carry out a mass "slaughter" at a Jewish center in Brooklyn in the name of ISIS, entered Canada on a student visa and was seeking refugee status in the country. He received the visa in May 2023 and arrived in Toronto the following month. No Toronto-area post-secondary institution has agreed to comment on whether he was enrolled.
It is not just activist students who are facing deportation. In April, Belgium's Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole De Moor announced that she was asking Belgian immigration authorities to withdraw the refugee status of Mohammed Khatib, the European coordinator of the worldwide PFLP-affiliated Samidoun organization, which is banned in Germany. Khatib has a history of organizing student activism, and in March participated in a webinar, along with top Hamas official Bassem Naim, about the October 7 attack, in which he called it "a glorious day" that made him proud. He was called for a hearing on the revocation of his Belgian asylum status in July 2024, and was banned from entering the Netherlands in October.
According to a New York Times report, as of July 22, 2024, over 3,100 students across the U.S. had been arrested or detained on campuses across the country, but many of the charges have been dropped. As early as May 2024, colleges across California were suspending some student protestors, with consequences including evictions from housing, barring from final exams, and navigating disciplinary actions similar to those for accusations of bringing a gun to campus or raping a classmate in their dorm.
In Light Of Last Year's Failures, U.S. Universities Begin Early To Prepare For Protests For The 2024-2025 Academic Year
In the U.S., the first two weeks of the 2024-5 academic year were already marked by anti-Israel pro-Palestinian protests, attempted encampments, graffiti, and more. This ramped up further with the approach of the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attacks and the Jewish High Holidays.
In the wake of the violent antisemitic activity on campus since October 7, 2023, universities faced multiple lawsuits for failing to keep Jewish students safe. In June 2024, an amended lawsuit was filed against Columbia University and Barnard College on behalf of over 45 Jewish and Israeli student plaintiffs who were victims of egregious, pervasive, and ongoing antisemitism. In July, Jewish groups wrote a letter urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to enforce the "KKK laws" at Columbia to remedy the hostile environment.
On August 6, 2024, a federal judge denied a motion by Harvard University to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by six Jewish students who alleged that the school did not properly address ongoing campus antisemitism. Also in August, five Columbia students filed a lawsuit against a dozen groups, as well as against Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Jamaal Bowman, whom they claim had encouraged anti-Israel protests at the Ivy League university earlier this year.
At Columbia, which in early 2024 faced scrutiny from lawmakers, the U.S. Department of Education, alumni, and others about antisemitism, Jewish students were told by a rabbi there to stay home for their own safety. In early July, three staff members were "permanently removed" after being caught sending text messages of "ancient antisemitic tropes," but still retained posts at the university; in August, they resigned.
In light of this, universities had an opportunity to prepare for the coming academic year, including by putting in place new safety infrastructure, revising and clearly communicating protest policies, and protecting Jewish students from discrimimenation through antisemitism training and other measures. For example, mandatory training on antisemitism was set for Northwestern University students; Johns Hopkins adopted an "institutional neutrality" policy, meaning that it would not weigh in on topics outside its direct "interest or function" – that is, not issue public statements on contentious political issues. Some new rules imposed by universities include banning encampments, limiting the duration of demonstrations, allowing protests only in designated spaces, and restricting campus access to those with university identification.
It should be noted that in early August, a mask and face covering ban was signed into law in Long Island's Nassau County, New York State, making it a crime for anyone to wear a mask or face covering to hide their identity, with exceptions for health or religious reasons. Violating the law results in a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail or a $1,000 fine. Supporters of the ban said it would help cut down on crimes committed during protests. The law comes in response to a number of antisemitic incidents that authorities said were committed by people wearing masks. There have been calls for similar mask bans on campuses, and on some campuses they have been put in place.
While there was evidence even last year that fear of deportation was keeping some international students from protesting, stricter rules and penalties over campus protests, most of them instituted prior to the beginning of the 2024-5 academic year, seem to be having an effect on campuses. As of late November 2024, universities have seen fewer than 950 protests, versus about 3,000 in the spring. Additionally, Administrators are enforcing policies created in response to last spring's unrest:
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Harvard has enacted temporary bans from libraries;
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At Indiana University Bloomington, protestors were disciplined for nighttime vigils in accordance with a new prohibition on such activity after 11 pm;
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At the University of Pennsylvania, participants in a vigil were directed to move by campus police and administrators because they had not reserved the space;
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At Pomona College, standard disciplinary process was bypassed and some protestors were immediately suspended for taking over a building on October 7, 2024; the college justified the move because the protestors destroyed property, threatened safety, and disrupted classes;
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Police presence is increased at demonstrations on some campuses;
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In December, anti-Israel activists were suspended for damage caused by their protests and vandalism at George Mason University on August 28, 2024.
However, the Minneapolis City Council narrowly approved a resolution on December 3, 2024 urging the University of Minnesota to rescind any disciplinary actions in connection with an October 21 protest barricading and preventing access to the university's administrative offices. The protest was aimed at forcing the university to divest from companies with ties to Israel. About a dozen protestors had been arrested.
Protestors, faces covered, Baruch College, Manhattan, June 5, 2024 (JTA) Source: Timesofisrael.com/us-federal-suit-filed-against-ny-countys-mask-ban-aimed-at-countering-antisemitism/
American Universities With Large Numbers Of International Students, Faculty, And Staff Urge Them To Return To Campus Early From Winter Break Before Trump Inauguration
President-elect Trump's statements are reportedly causing great anxiety among illegal, international, and first-generation immigrant students. Some universities have expressed concern that his proposals could get their students deported and deny them federal funding.
Following Donald Trump's presidential victory, as winter break began, and as his January 20, 2025 inauguration approached, many U.S. colleges and universities have urged their international students and staff to hurry back to the U.S. before Trump's January 20 inauguration.
In advance of the inauguration, universities with large numbers of foreign students, faculty, and staff exhorted them to return early to the U.S. following winter, due to fears that he could institute a strict travel ban right away. On November 26, 2024, Cornell issued "guidance" regarding "possible immigration changes in 2025" in which it stated: "A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration... likely to include citizens of the countries targeted in the first Trump administration: Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Sudan, Tanzania, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Somalia" as well as others such as China and India. It continued: "It is a good idea for international students, faculty, and staff from the above countries to be back in the U.S. in advance of the semester, which begins January 21, 2025."
Earlier, on November 22, Northeastern University issued "Post U.S.-Election Travel Recommendations" to "the international community at Northeastern University," stating: "With results of the U.S. presidential and congressional elections confirmed, we want to share important information for those in our community who hold re-entry visas, including international students, visiting scholars, faculty, researchers, and staff... To minimize potential disruption to your studies, work, or research, we strongly recommend returning to the U.S. no later than January 6, 2025, the start of Northeastern's Winter/Spring academic term."
In December 2024, the University of Southern California – which, as noted, had last year over 17,000 foreign students – warned international students foreign students that they should return to the U.S. a week before inauguration, since there could be "one or more executive orders impacting travel... and visa processing." It added: "While there's no certainty such orders will be issued, the safest way to avoid any challenges is to be physically present in the U.S. before the Spring semester begins on January 13, 2025."
Additionally, the University of Massachusetts Amherst posted a "Holiday Break Travel Advisory" on its International Student and Scholar Services page recommending that "our UMass Amherst international community – including all international students, scholars, faculty and staff under UMass immigration sponsorship – strongly consider returning to the United States prior to the presidential inauguration day of January 20, 2025... given that a new presidential administration can enact new policies on their first day in office (January 20)." It added: "Undergraduate international students who live on-campus will be permitted to move back in early if needed.
Since The Protests Began, U.S. Politicians And Lawmakers Have Expressed Support For The Deportation Of Foreign Extremist Anti-Israel Pro-Palestinian Student Protestors
Based on the countless videos and reports of pro-Palestinian protestors harassing, intimidating, and attacking Jewish and pro-Israel students, and on emerging details about foreign students here on visas who are taking an active role in anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protests, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as well as numerous members of Congress had called for deporting students from the U.S. A number of them have written letters and introduced legislation on the subject.
Statements By President-Elect Trump And His Incoming Administration Picks
Following the election, Trump said during a rally against antisemitism in Washington on November 13 that to "defeat antisemitism and defend Jewish citizens in America," he would inform every college president that if they do not "end antisemitic propaganda," they would lose accreditation and federal support. "We will not subsidize the creation of terrorist sympathizers, and we're not going to do it – certainly on American soil," he said. Once he takes office, he added, he would inform all educational institutions that if they permit violence or harassment against Jewish students, they will be "held accountable for violations of the civil rights law." He was reiterating his campaign promises to, inter alia, Republican Jewish Coalition donors in September.
Trump has explicitly promised to "immediately deport" foreign students involved in anti-Israel protests. He said on May 12: "When I'm president, we will not allow our colleges to be taken over by violent radicals. If you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or antisemitism to campuses, we will immediately deport you. You'll be out of that school." At a May 14, event, he told donors: "One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students. As soon as they hear that, they're going to behave." On September 5, he said that "colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support."
Trump's attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, had said, shortly after the October 7 attack, that students "here on student visas... out there saying, I support Hamas... Frankly, they need to be taken out of our country, or the FBI needs to be interviewing them right away."
Shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack, on October 14, then-Sen. Marco Rubio, now Secretary of State, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken: "Hamas' designation as a FTO makes this a clear directive to institute a thorough review of all visa holders and applicants. This should include coordination with law enforcement, both federal and state/local, as well as universities. I urge you to immediately use existing law to eradicate this hate from our country. In addition, I will be introducing legislation to provide further tools to ensure supporters of Hamas, and other FTOs, do not benefit from our country's generosity."
Sen. Rubio again wrote to Blinken, and to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, on May 8: "For those international students who defied university orders, and police instruction, in favor of acting on pro-terrorist views, this should result in immediate expulsion from their host institution and our generous country. No questions asked. Let me be clear: espousing support for a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization is grounds for the termination of a visa and immediate removal from our country. As pro-terrorist protesters continue to be arrested, I urge you to ensure those who are in our country on visas are placed into expedited deportation proceedings."
In an April 23 letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, and Secretary of State Blinken, House Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is now Trump's nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, wrote about the "ongoing crisis at Columbia University that is in clear violation of federal law and necessitates immediate action from the Departments which you control." Stressing the campus "environment that is unsafe for Jewish students and faculty," she noted that a rabbi on campus had told Jewish students to go home. "[T]he Immigration and Nationality act is clear," she wrote, citing it as saying that "anyone who endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization is ineligible for entry into the United States." Adding that "[i]ndividuals at these riots and campus events are brazenly endorsing Hamas and other terrorist organizations," she demanded that Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland "enforce existing law to revoke the visas and deport students here on visas who are suspended for their antisemitic actions."
Days later, on April 30, Rep. Stefanik called for deporting "pro-Hamas" Columbia University students on visas, saying "Yes, absolutely. They should be deported. They are pro-Hamas members of a mob who are calling for the eradication of Israel. They are calling for genocide against Jews around the world and in America. It is unthinkable that we are allowing this to happen at U.S. universities." She went on to label university presidents who refuse to take action against antisemitism and pro-Hamas ideologies "apologists."
Again singling out Columbia University, where demonstrations and harassment of Jewish students were already underway on September 3, 2024, Rep. Stefanik said that "House Republicans will use every tool at our disposal to demand immediate action from Columbia University on behalf of the Jewish students who want to pursue their education without fear."
Other Lawmakers Call For Deportation
At an October 23, 2024 campaign event in Iowa, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said, "You see students demonstrating in our country in favor of Hamas. Remember, some of them are foreigners." He added that if he became president, "I'm canceling your visa and I'm sending you home." He has also said: "You don't have a right to be here on a visa. You don't have a right to be studying in the United States."
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley proposed tying state funding for universities to "how they manage hate," as did South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who said he would revoke Pell grant funding for universities that do not sufficiently condemn terrorism. The previous day, he had introduced the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act, which would ban federal aid to colleges and universities that facilitate or promote events with antisemitic messages.
The White House rejected the demands by Sens. Rubio, Cotton, and others to deport students. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the October 23, 2023 daily briefing that "we're always going to denounce antisemitism," but that "at the same time, people have the right to peacefully protest." Kirby said, "You don't have to agree with every sentiment as expressed in a free country like this to stand by the idea of the First Amendment and the idea of peaceful protest."
Nevertheless, legislators' demands have continued, along with some legislation. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order in March 2024 addressing "acts of antisemitism in institutions of higher education." It aimed, inter alia, to "review and update free speech policies to address the sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts on university campuses and establish appropriate punishments, including expulsion from the institution' and "ensure that these policies are being enforced on campuses and that groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine are disciplined for violating these policies."
Sen. Marsha Blackburn called for the revocation of visas of students who are Hamas sympathizers, and for their deportation. She said on April 29, 2024: "You cannot go around yelling 'I am Hamas' or 'We are Hamas' or 'River to the sea' and pushing out Jewish students and have the University not step up." She added: "Now, in my opinion, for the students who are out protesting, shouting 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' and... being Hamas sympathizers, if they're foreign students, I would pull their visa and deport them."
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) wrote in the Wall Street Journal in December about visiting Widener Library at Harvard – "a monument to learning, study, and contemplation that sits like a temple in the middle of Harvard Yard" – and seeing every student in its famous reading room in a kaffiyeh, with fliers on their laptops and on lamps reading "No Normalcy During Genocide – Justice for Palestine" and "a large banner spread across one end of the room [that] stated in blazing blood-red letters, 'Stop the Genocide in Gaza.'" In a "cordial discussion" with students who said they were from Saudi Arabia and the West Bank, he was asked whether he supported a ceasefire in Gaza. When he said he did not, and explained why, they began harassing him, called him a murderer, "shoved phones" in his face, and taunted him with "Do you support genocide?"; the video was later posted on Instagram by the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee. He concluded: "It is time for Congress to save these important and once-respected institutions from themselves and their weak leaders who have lost their moral compasses. I intend to work with my colleagues in the Senate to do so."
On June 16, 2024, Democratic Congressman Jim Himes reminded FoxNews viewers that "the perpetrators of 9/11 pulled off the most spectacular terrorist attack against the United States from inside the United States, on student visas." He added that "the conflict in Israel and Gaza... has sort of activated radical Islamic terrorists" who "more than ever before would like to undertake an attack in a spectacular way."
Sen. Tom Cotton stated in an October 16, 2023 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas: "I write to urge you to immediately deport any foreign national – including and especially any alien on a student visa – that has expressed support for Hamas and its murderous attacks on Israel... Federal law is clear that any alien who 'endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization' is inadmissible and must be deported. Swiftly removing and permanently barring from future reentry any foreign student who signed onto or shared approvingly the anti-Semitic letter from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee on October 7 would be a good place to start." He added, "While American citizens may have a First Amendment right to speak disgusting vitriol if they so choose, no foreign national has a right to advocate for terrorism in the United States."
In late April, Sen. Cotton called for deporting foreign students with visas who participate in antisemitic protests. His demand followed Columbia University's announcement that it would move to a hybrid class model through the end of the semester because of the pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
Later, on July 24, 2024, Sen. Cotton introduced a bill, the "No Visas for Violent Criminals Act," which would remove temporary legal status from any non-citizens convicted of a crime related to protesting if they are present in the U.S. on short-term visas, including student visas. Aimed at anyone convicted in a protest at a college campus or religious institution, and any protest that involves the vandalism of a national monument or obstructs a highway, it would mandate the revocation of the visa of any non-citizen and their deportation to their country of origin within 60 days of conviction.
In a letter to Blinken and Mayorkas, Reps. Jim Banks and Jeff Duncan wrote on October 20: "We are concerned by recent reports of demonstrations on U.S. soil, including student demonstrations, in support of Hamas, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, following the shocking terrorist attacks by Hamas on our closest ally in the Middle East, Israel. These demonstrations potentially involve student visa holders. We write to request information regarding the potentially unlawful presence on U.S. soil of non-immigrant foreign nationals who have endorsed terrorist activity." Banks said, "We've already had a record number of illegal immigrants from terrorist-harboring nations. We need to shut down our border and then deport all non-citizen Hamas sympathizers."
Rep. Duncan also wrote on X on May 15: "The pro-Hamas student visa holders who rioted on behalf of a terrorist regime trying to annihilate Israel do not have Constitutional rights. Those rights extend only to citizens of the United States. We should revoke their visas and keep terrorist sympathizers from creating terrorist cells here in America."
Multiple Bills Have Called For Deporting Activist Pro-Terrorism Students
The Hamas Supporters Have No Home Here Act (H.R. 8221), introduced on May 1 and cosponsored by five House Republicans – Beth Van Duyne, Jefferson Van Drew, Daniel Meuser, David Rouzer, Michael Lawler, and Mark E. Green – called "[t]o amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to the removability of aliens who are charged with any crime related to their participation in pro-terrorism or antisemitism rallies or demonstrations."
Also, on July 25, Rep. Nick Langworthy introduced a bill directing U.S. officials to deport any foreigner on a student visa who "has participated in activity in support of, or as an endorsement of, a foreign terrorist organization."
Additionally, the Republican platform, published July 8, stated that "we stand with Israel" and includes a commitment to "deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again."
Arrests And Suspensions Of Pro-Palestinian And Pro-Hamas Students, Including Foreign Students, And Withholding Of Degrees Across The U.S. – No Deportations Yet, But Cases Are Pending
As early as November 2023, officials at MIT had threatened students participating in an unauthorized protest at the main entrance of the university with suspension, on the grounds that the two groups involved, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, had "repeatedly violated university policies related to holding campus events, culminating in an unauthorized event Thursday afternoon [November 9] that proceeded despite warnings and included threatening rhetoric and intimidation." However, it did not follow through on the threat, acknowledging that the reason for this was because of its concern that some of these students could face deportation because they were not U.S. citizens.
According to a statement issued by MIT president Sally Kornbluth, "Because we later heard serious concerns about collateral consequences for the students, such as visa issues, we have decided, as an interim action, that the students who remained after the deadline will be suspended from non-academic campus activities. The students will remain enrolled at MIT and will be able to attend academic classes and labs."
According to the MIT website, in the 2023-24 academic year, of the total number of students enrolled in MIT in October 2023, 3,478 were international students: 501 undergraduates (11%) and 2,977 graduate students (41%), with an additional 652 exchange, visiting, and special students.
The University of Pennsylvania actually did suspend students, but Harvard rescinded suspensions.
At Columbia University, over 100 protestors were arrested in April. University officials said on April 30 that the school would expel the students occupying its Hamilton Hall, but despite the police raid to clear the building and dozens of arrests, most charges against the students were subsequently dropped, and no students were expelled. There were also over 130 arrests of protestors at the University of Texas in late April, and those arrested are now facing various forms of probation or suspension. The protests also prompted changes to the university's free speech rules. As of May, since April across the country over 2,600 protestors on 50 campuses across the country had been arrested.
However, many international students involved in the protests have taken care to follow rules to avoid being arrested. According to a Washington Post report in May, students at various universities said that international students had been playing significant roles as speakers, teachers, and general supporters, but had avoided encampments and other areas where the risk of arrest or suspension was high. Other students limit what they post on social media for fear of losing their visas.
While some colleges have withheld degrees from students involved in the protests, a DHS official speaking in May said that so far, no students had had visas terminated because of participation in campus protests.
A June article in Inside Higher Ed stated that "in responding to student protests, universities should take immigration consequences into account," noting that "in determining the proper course of action in less clear-cut circumstances, university administrators should consider collateral consequences." It added: "When tensions are high, it is easy for politicians to blame noncitizens, who cannot vote and who are often perceived as 'outsiders,' and to discount their First Amendment rights."
Some suspensions of students have been widely publicized. In September 2024, Cornell became the first university to suspend a student, PhD candidate Momodou Taal of the UK, for pro-Palestinian organizing, thus putting him at risk of deportation. It was his second suspension for this activism. According to the university, he had "demonstrated a pattern of escalating, egregious behavior and a disregard for the university policies that exist to protect and respect the rights of all members of our community" and was being suspended for violating "multiple provisions of the Student Code of Conduct" by participating in disrupting and shutting down a campus career fair by means of chants, instruments, and banging on pots and pans. Taal holds an F-1 visa.
On September 23, Taal tweeted, "There is co-ordinated campaign to get me deported by Cornell Alumni. A leader of that campaign is a major donor to Andrew Cuomo. Please keep calling and writing in. This is bigger than my case but how these institutions operate." Taal's case has been widely publicized and he has been hosted and interviewed on a number of university- and student-related and other platforms to discuss it. It became a cause célèbre among leftist circles; even Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted on September 27: "It is appalling that Cornell University appears ready to deport an international student without regard for due process, simply because of their presence at a protest. It is wrong, and I urge the university to reverse course immediately."
Cornell said in October that it had to date "identified 19 individuals who disrupted university operations as part of a protest that shut down the September 18 career fair." The dean wrote to him that "once you are administratively withdrawn from the fall 2024 term, your visa status will change" and "upon termination of F-1 [visa] status it is advisable to depart the U.S. as soon as possible so as to minimize the time you are out of status within the U.S." Members of Cornell's Graduate Student Union and students came to his defense, and on October 16 it was reported that the proceedings against him had been cancelled and that he would be allowed to continue his studies and remain in the U.S., but with some restrictions. He may remain enrolled but must continue his studies remotely, and is not allowed to teach.
However, in December he said that he plans to "give political education off campus [and] hopefully it's translated to campus. The work doesn't stop. The Palestinian organizing doesn't stop." He added, "These institutions don't think that students can fight back." It is notable that he continues to express his support of Hamas on X.
X.com/MomodouTaal/status/1880873757511741757
X.com/NationalSJP/status/1881105934891831540
X.com/MomodouTaal/status/1882487500134060069
To view Momodou Taal on TRT Afrika discussing the Biden and Trump administrations, click here or below:
On December 16, 2024, Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, an 18-year-old Egyptian national and a freshman at George Mason University, was charged in a mass-casualty plot targeting Jews. According to federal prosecutors, he was planning an attack on Israel's general consulate in New York using a bomb, assault rifle, or suicide vest. He had for years been allegedly spreading Islamic State content online, and had been interviewed by the FBI in 2022 but not charged. According to the charging documents, he was an active social media user who would praise Osama bin Laden and boast about the antisemitic and terrorist propaganda he disseminated on his accounts.
It is notable that earlier in December two pro-Palestinian activist sisters, Noor and Jena Chanaa, Palestinian-American students at GMU and past and present leaders of its Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, were banned from the campus, after their home was searched and guns, magazines, signs reading "Death to Jews" and "Death to America," and Hamas and Hizbullah flags were found there.
In a lesser-known incident in December 2024, an MIT graduate student, Prahlad Iyengar, was charged by the school with policy violations and banned from campus after he wrote an article in the student-run "Written Revolution" magazine that he helped edit that called for the pro-Palestinian movement to "begin wreaking havoc." MIT banned distribution of the magazine and school administrators wrote to him that "the article makes several troubling statements that could be interpreted as a call for more violent or destructive forms of protest at MIT. Numerous community members have expressed concern for their safety and well-being after learning of your article."
At the same time, however, in November a U.S. federal appeals court strengthened protections for naturalized U.S. citizens in terrorism cases. The court sided with a Moroccan-born naturalized citizen who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money and lying to agents in 2006 and said he pleaded guilty to avoid the risk of a lengthy prison sentence because his attorney at the time told him no Muslim would get a fair trial. Even those illegally present in the U.S. appear to have unofficial protection, as in some cities media and officials downplay terrorism-related incidents. For example, in October 2024, when a Mauritanian man who had illegally entered the U.S. went to Chicago's largest Jewish neighborhood and, yelling "Allahu Akbar" and shot an Orthodox Jewish man on his way to synagogue, city officials refused to identify the victim as Jewish and police would not say whether they were investigating the incident as either a hate crime or an act of terrorism.
Other Repercussions For Students Participating In Protests: Difficulty Getting Hired
In addition, many employers – almost a third in a May 2024 survey – said that they would be hesitant to hire recent graduates who have participated in the protests. Almost two thirds of those surveyed said they were concerned that these graduates could exhibit confrontational behavior in the workplace, and over half said it was because they were too political and would make other employees feel uncomfortable.
Graduates themselves have expressed concern, including those few whose degrees have been withheld. One University of Chicago senior in this position said, "The reality is we might not get jobs because of (our activism)." One Georgetown Law School graduate whose offer was rescinded due to her social media posts and speeches is reportedly suing the law firm that had extended the offer.
Most recently, it was reported that of at least 3,100 protestors, many of them students, arrested at protests on over 100 campuses, some have had the charges dropped, while others are facing felony charges.
Immediately After October 7, U.S. Islamist Organizations – Such As CAIR – Held Webinars Advising Students On Protests
Organizations whose roots lie in the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist and even terrorist organizations have maintained a presence at student encampments on campus since October 7, 2023. Their representatives have spoken at the encampments, they have held teach-ins and webinars, sometimes in Arabic with translation, and they have distributed guides and instructional materials for protest actions. It must be stressed that they have no connection to the universities.
It is notable that there has been interaction between students and terror supporters outside the country, inter alia with Hizbullah representatives, and, as of mid-January 2025, this is legal. The Biden administration reversed a longstanding policy to allow Americans to hear from speakers who are subject to U.S. sanctions – including members of designated terrorist organizations – at conferences held overseas that are sponsored by American organizations.
Muslim Students Association (MSA) National And Council On American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Hold "Student Rights In Advocacy" Livestream Workshop:
On October 12, just days after the Hamas attack on October 7, MSA [Muslim Students Association] National, together with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), held an hour-long "Student Rights in Advocacy" livestream workshop.
The workshop, hosted by Nimrah Riaz, Chair, MSA National, featured speakers CAIR cofounder and director Nihad Awad and research and advocacy director Corey Saylor. It should be noted that in December, CAIR was disavowed by the White House after Nihad Awad said that he "was happy to see" Gazans "breaking the siege." Also speaking was Dr. Rania Awaad, MD, president of the Muslim mental health organization Maristan.
Ms. Riaz introduced the webinar "in partnership with CAIR National who are going to give a little bit deeper dive" on "free speech" and "issues of harassment" and "explore ways to ensure that students can advocate for human rights and faith without fear."
Dr. Rania Awaad prefaced statements by Awad and Saylor with stressing the importance of self-care and "protect[ing] yourself spiritually all while you're protecting yourself of course legally" in continuing "this work that you are doing," and underlined that "in every video" from "there," "you see people raising their hands and saying 'alhamdullilah' and understanding what martyrdom is."
Nihad Awad spoke about his own experiences at the University of Minnesota during the First and Second Intifadas, when he was "actually in your very spot, promoting justice for the Palestinians while minding my own studies," when "all of a sudden, I just found myself confronted with false images and portrayals... Palestinians being portrayed as terrorists."
Encouraging his listeners, he explained that the American Muslim community "stood on the shoulders of so many giants, including the legacy of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King" and the civil rights movement, and how the 1992 Spike Lee film Malcolm X had "become almost like a toolbox for me in how to think, how to focus, how to see the big picture and understand how the struggle should go."
Addressing the "brothers and sisters who sometimes [are] besieged," for example, "on campus at Harvard, who, many of them, did not leave their dorms and did not go to classes because of the intimidation they have been feeling, encompassed," he stressed that "we [CAIR] are here for you now today" and that "CAIR has offices in most of the main cities. Never feel alone, you have a community, you have you have a family, you have hundreds of CAIR officials and staff willing to be on your side."
"Here's the good news today, brothers and sisters," he added, explaining that "the pro-Israel machinery here and in Palestine, they're afraid of you because you carry the truth... The secret is, we have to be stronger, have more people who do not buy the propaganda that Israel put together since October 7." As an example of this "propaganda" he said: "Even President Biden himself parroted and repeated the lie about [Hamas] chopping off children's heads."
Awad continued with a message to follow school policies when protesting, and stressed, "No chanting of things that are not Islamic, are not legal, are not are not helping the cause" but added that off campus, they have more freedom "to do stuff."
Later, he compared the student protests to the story of Muhammad, saying that both he and the protesters were ridiculed and insulted, but like Muhammad, they too were right in their convictions.
Muslim Organizations Provide Resources For Students: "Toolkits" And Instructions On How To Avoid Arrest
As noted, these Muslim organizations, which are completely unconnected to the universities, are reaching out to students to guide them in their protests, publishing "toolkits" and instruction manuals, and advising them in their activity, including in how to avoid arrest.
This began immediately after October 7: On October 12, the pro-Hamas, pro-PFLP, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)-funded Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for a "national day of resistance" nationwide and its publication of a "toolkit" that stated, inter alia, "Gaza broke out of prison. Resistance fighters captured one of the bulldozers used to destroy Palestinian homes and used it to breach the illegitimate border fence back into '48 Palestine."
CAIR has continued to provide on its website "resources for students protesting Gaza genocide" including "Resources for Student Protestors," a "Guide for Students Speaking Out Against Islamophobia and for Palestinian Rights," and an extensive section titled "Know Your Rights: Encounters with Law Enforcement." It has held additional webinars as well.
* Steven Stalinsky, Ph.D., is Executive Director of MEMRI; R. Sosnow is Lead Editor at MEMRI.
Appendix: Full Text Of 8 USC 1182: Inadmissible Aliens
The following is section §1182 (B) of 8 USC 1182: Inadmissible Aliens, titled Terrorist Activities:
(B) Terrorist activities
(i) In general
Any alien who-
(I) has engaged in a terrorist activity;
(II) a consular officer, the Attorney General, or the Secretary of Homeland Security knows, or has reasonable ground to believe, is engaged in or is likely to engage after entry in any terrorist activity (as defined in clause (iv));
(III) has, under circumstances indicating an intention to cause death or serious bodily harm, incited terrorist activity;
(IV) is a representative (as defined in clause (v)) of-
(aa) a terrorist organization (as defined in clause (vi)); or
(bb) a political, social, or other group that endorses or espouses terrorist activity;
(V) is a member of a terrorist organization described in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (vi);
(VI) is a member of a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(III), unless the alien can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the alien did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the organization was a terrorist organization;
(VII) endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization;
(VIII) has received military-type training (as defined in section 2339D(c)(1) of title 18) from or on behalf of any organization that, at the time the training was received, was a terrorist organization (as defined in clause (vi)); or
(IX) is the spouse or child of an alien who is inadmissible under this subparagraph, if the activity causing the alien to be found inadmissible occurred within the last 5 years,
is inadmissible. An alien who is an officer, official, representative, or spokesman of the Palestine Liberation Organization is considered, for purposes of this chapter, to be engaged in a terrorist activity.