Trump To Cancel Student Visas Of All 'Hamas Sympathizers', Deport Pro-Palestinian Protesters
Trump would order "immediate action" by the Justice Department to "aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews".
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Wednesday to deport non-citizen college students and other resident aliens who participated in pro-Palestinian protests, a White House official said.
Trump would order the Justice Department to "aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews”, a fact sheet on the order said, as reported by Reuters. The fact sheet on the order vows "immediate action" by the Justice Department.
The order also includes the marshal of all federal resources to combat the "explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets" since the October 7 attack on Israel by 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, who assumed office on January 20 for the second time, stated in the fact sheet.
"I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” it added.
The Israel-Hamas war had led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests at several US college campuses, with civil rights groups highlighting rise in anto-Arab and Islamophobic incidents.
Trump Invites Netanyahu To White House Next Week
This comes as Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week. Netanyahu would be the first foreign leader to visit Trump since he started his second term as US President.
"I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, and efforts to counter our shared adversaries," the White House letter shared by Netanyahu’s office noted, as reported by Associated Press.
The last time the two leaders met for the first time in nearly four years at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.
Last week, Trump suggested that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from Gaza in a move to "just clean out that whole thing". However, this suggestion was rejected swiftly, as they feared Israel would never allow a return, AP reported.
Under the ongoing ceasefire, Gaza will release the next set of hostages and Israel will release Palestinian prisoners from its custody on Thursday, followed by another exchange on Saturday.
In the first phase, a total of 33 hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, which started the war, in exchange of around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners was expected. However, Israel said that eight of the 33 hostages to be freed are feared dead.
Meanwhile, Israel has confirmed three Israeli and five Thai hostages will be freed from Gaza on Thursday. The Israeli hostages set to be freed include Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Moses, and Agam Berger, AFP reported.
According to a Times of Israel report, the Prime Minister Netanyahu's office earlier said it will announce the names of the hostages on the list only after updating the families. On Saturday, three men being held hostage by Hamas will be released.
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