President Donald Trump wasted no time delivering on his promise to crack down on anti-Semitic extremism, signing an executive order aimed at ensuring that foreign nationals who engage in anti-Jewish protests or criminal activity face deportation. The order, part of a broader effort to combat rising hostility toward Jewish communities, specifically targets resident aliens and student visa holders who broke U.S. law while participating in pro-Hamas demonstrations following the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. Federal agencies have been given 60 days to provide recommendations on enforcement, while the Justice Department has been directed to investigate intimidation tactics and hateful vandalism on college campuses.
Republicans in Congress have long been pushing for stronger federal action against the surge of anti-Semitism, pointing to the Biden administration’s failure to protect Jewish students from harassment. A recent report from six GOP-led committees blasted federally funded universities, including Columbia University, for allowing open anti-Jewish hostility to thrive. Columbia, which collected an eye-popping $2.7 billion in taxpayer funding in 2023, became a hotbed for anti-Israel demonstrations, including an encampment that escalated into violent rhetoric and nationwide protests. The complete disregard for Jewish students’ safety became impossible to ignore.
These protests at Columbia quickly spiraled into outright lawlessness, culminating in activists storming and occupying a campus building while openly calling for an “intifada” against Jewish people. To make matters worse, leaked communications from university administrators revealed a disturbingly dismissive attitude toward Jewish students’ concerns. Even as recently as this week, a Columbia student group marked Holocaust Remembrance Day by making outrageous comparisons between Israel and Nazi Germany—an insult that only reinforces the urgency of Trump’s directive to hold institutions accountable.
Trump’s executive order follows through on his campaign pledge to ensure that foreign nationals who advocate for terrorist organizations are not allowed to continue residing in the U.S. while enjoying the benefits of an American education. The order specifically directs federal agencies to ensure that no admitted alien or visa holder provides support to designated foreign terrorist groups. In a move that further underscores his administration’s efforts to curb radical left-wing agendas, Trump also signed another executive order stripping federal funding from K-12 schools that push critical race theory and radical gender ideology. His newly appointed education secretary, Linda McMahon, now has 90 days to present a strategy to rid schools of divisive leftist indoctrination.
This latest directive reaffirms Trump’s commitment to restoring a pro-American curriculum and reinstates the 1776 Commission, which he first established during his initial term to promote a historically accurate and patriotic education. The overarching goal is clear: schools should be producing responsible, informed citizens ready to contribute to the workforce, not radical activists programmed with ideological talking points. With these executive actions, Trump is sending an unmistakable message—both universities and public schools will be held accountable for fostering extremism, and those who break the law in the name of radical activism will face real consequences.
