An executive order from President Trump promoting a federal crackdown on campus antisemitism and his threats to cancel visas of pro-Palestinian international students have put California university leaders and activists on alert after many of the nation's largest and most contentious protests unfolded at their schools.

USC leaders were cautious in comments about the order, saying they adhere to state and federal laws, while a UC spokesman said it was committed to "combating antisemitism" but did not respond to a Trump promise to deport internationals who are "Hamas sympathizers." The chair of a UCLA Jewish group welcomed the order as an acknowledgment of the "crisis" of campus antisemitism. And a pro-Palestinian UCLA faculty representative described the threats in the order as "authoritarianism, plain and simple."

The order calls on the federal government to "prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence" on college campuses and directs the federal Education, State and Homeland Security departments in the next two months to develop "recommendations for familiarizing institutions" with how to "monitor and report activities by alien students and staff" that would potentially qualify them for visa revocation.

It cites federal law that bars noncitizens from being in the U.S. if they support terrorism. The order does not explicitly equate pro-Palestinian protesters with supporters of Hamas, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.

But a fact sheet about the executive order on the White House website, quoting Trump, makes clear the president's intentions to "deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas."

The move follows Trump's campaign promises to deport pro-Palestinian protesters who do not hold U.S. citizenship.

"If you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or antisemitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you," he said at a May event. At the Republican National Convention in July, the party agreed to include the goal on its platform.

Speaking on background, officials at UCLA, USC and other campuses with large international student populations that saw a groundswell of pro-Palestinian protests last year said their administrations were looking over the president's order with concern.

But publicly, universities had little to say in response to Trump.

In a statement, USC said that it was "reviewing the order" and that it follows "all state and federal laws."

UCLA directed a question from The Times to the University of California Office of the President, which oversees all campuses.

A UC spokesman said in a statement that the university system "is unwavering in its commitment to combating antisemitism" and was "carefully reviewing the president's executive order while continuing our work fostering an environment free of harassment and discrimination."

When asked if UC had a position on Trump's intention to revoke visas for pro-Palestinian international students, the spokesman said, "We will let you know if we have anything further to add."

A self-described "loud, proud Zionist activists" organization, Betar US, said last week that it had delivered a list of at least 100 "pro-Hamas" foreign students and 20 faculty members to the White House, including those from UC. The news was first reported by the conservative outlet the Daily Caller.

Civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized California universities, which saw an explosion of pro-Palestinian activism and complaints of anti-Jewish and anti-Arab incidents after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the resulting war in Gaza, for calling in riot police last year to arrest student activists. UCLA, in internal and external reviews, has been faulted for a failure to quickly coordinate a response with Los Angeles police and other law enforcement when vigilantes attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment on April 30 and May 1 last year.

UCLA has been sued in a federal court case alleging that it enabled pro-Palestinian protesters at a encampment last spring to block Jewish students from accessing certain campus pathways. And Pro-Palestinian protesters from UCLA have filed suit state court over the university's handling of protests.

But while protesters have faced campus consequences, including suspensions and delays in receiving their degrees, colleges have generally avoided pushing for criminal prosecutions.

Kira Stein, the chair of UCLA's Jewish Faculty Resilience Group, said the organization welcomed Trump's order "as an important step in recognizing the crisis Jewish students and faculty are facing at UCLA and other campuses nationwide."

"For too long, universities have looked the other way on antisemitism while enforcing protections for every other identity group. This double standard needs to stop. We hope this order pushes administrations to finally take antisemitism seriously and protect Jewish students and faculty equally," said Stein, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry.

"A big part of the problem is anti-Zionism that crosses the line from legitimate, evidence-based criticism to demonization, disinformation, denial, and calls for Israel's destruction," Stein said. "That's antisemitism, plain and simple. Denying Jews the same rights as everyone else — including self-determination in their historic homeland — is discrimination, and universities need to recognize and address it."

In a statement, a representative of UCLA Faculty of Justice in Palestine, whose members include professors that participated in the pro-Palestinian encampment, called on the university to "stand up for the rights of your students, faculty, and all workers."

"We reject the smokescreen of antisemitism that continues to be used by U.S. administrations to justify their ongoing support of genocide against Palestinians, and now this xenophobic order," Hannah Appel, a UCLA associate professor of anthropology, said in the statement. "As scholars, we remind everyone that Judaism is a religion and cultural identity, whereas Israel is a state that has been engaged in eight decades of displacement, dispossession, military occupation, and genocide of the Palestinian people. Criticism of Israel, and participation in anti-genocide protests are not antisemitic, and to threaten deportation as a consequence of protest is authoritarianism, plain and simple."

At UC Berkeley, also a major site of protest last year, graduate student Ryan Manriquez said many students on campus were startled by the order.

"The recent executive actions by the Trump administration politicize our student body, leaving many fearful of what's to come," he said.

Manriquez signed onto a Thursday letter from the UC Student Assn. and UC Graduate and Professional Council, which represent undergraduate and graduate students at the system's 10 campuses, calling Trump's move a "direct assault on free speech rights."

"This inaccurate conflation of pro-Palestine advocacy with antisemitism sets a scary precedent of censorship for the student community where only certain students are able to participate in free speech," the letter said.

At UC San Diego, the Students for Justice in Palestine group said in a statement that the president's executive order would not quell its demonstrations.

The order "isn't just about about Palestine; it's about every student's right to protest U.S. violence, both at home and abroad, without the fear of surveillance or deportation," the statement said.

"The real question is: where will our universities stand in this defining moment? Will institutions like UC San Diego ... now go so far as to report student activists for deportation?"

Trump's order further draws the federal government into a contentious debate over what constitutes antisemitism. Pro-Palestinian activists argue that their protests are anti-Zionist, but not anti-Jewish, and that they are opposed to the state of Israel because of its actions against Palestinians. But pro-Israel groups retort that questioning whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state is antisemitic.

The State Department, which handles student visas, follows a definition promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Pro-Palestinian and free speech organizations have opposed this definition because it says that "claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor" is antisemitic. That argument is common at campus protests, where posters and chants routinely decry Israel as an "apartheid" state.

The Trump order also calls on the Education Department to report back an inventory and analysis of "all pending administrative complaints … against or involving institutions of higher education alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus antisemitism."

Anticipating harsh actions under a Trump administration, universities across the U.S. that were under federal investigation for post-Oct. 7, 2023, civil rights complaints reached settlements on several cases before Trump's inauguration. UC in December resolved nine federal civil rights complaints of antisemitism and bias against Muslim, Arab and pro-Palestinian students at five UC campuses.

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