Worried college students at some universities have begun deleting the names of pro-Palestine protesters published online in response to Donald Trump pledging to deport ‘Hamas sympathizers’.
Trump, 78, signed a January 30 executive order to cancel the student visas of anyone who had shown support for the Palestinian terror group.
In response, the editorial board at The Exponent, Purdue University’s student newspaper, announced in an article that it would be ‘removing the names, images and likenesses of every such student from our website published since Oct. 7, 2023’.
It said the move aimed ‘to protect the identities of pro-Palestinian students’, adding that it ‘refuses to be party to such a blatant violation of the First Amendment rights of potentially hundreds of Purdue students’.
‘Further, in future coverage, no such information or images will be published online or in print by the Exponent — no exceptions — until this autocratic attack on free speech is overturned,’ the article, penned by anonymous ‘editorial staff’ added.
Purdue University is a public research facility in West Lafayette, Indiana specializing in science, tech, engineering and math studies.
The Exponent is currently overseen by editor-in-chief Seth Nelson, who writes about ‘poverty, homelessness and drug addiction’ according to his LinkedIn.
Trump’s executive order targets people living in the US on visas, including students, who broke laws during demonstrations following the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel.
Panicked college pupils at Purdue University in Indiana have begun deleting the names of ‘pro-Palestine students’ published online in response to Donald Trump pledging to deport ‘Hamas sympathizers’. (Pictured: A pro-Palestine march on the Purdue campus in October 2023)
Trump, 78, signed a January 30 executive order to cancel the student visas of anyone who had shown support for the Palestinian terror group
The Exponent is currently overseen by editor-in-chief Seth Nelson (pictured) who writes about ‘poverty, homelessness and drug addiction’ according to his LinkedIn
The president said he would instruct his Justice Department to ‘aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews’.
He added: ‘To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice… we will find you, and we will deport you.
‘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 was the latest in a slew of orders that Trump has signed since becoming President as he looks to fulfill his campaign promises.
Many universities, particularly Columbia University in New York City, became the site of pro-Palestinian protests last year during the Israel-Hamas war
The students involved made radical demands that their universities sever financial ties to Israel and that the US end its military support for its longtime ally.
Trump’s latest order gives leaders of government agencies and departments 60 days to provide the White House with recommendations on how to identify anti-Semitic threats.
It comes as Trump welcomed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House this week – the first foreign leader to visit during the US president’s second term in office.
During the visit, Trump claimed he would take over Gaza and turn the war-torn Palestinian territory into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’.
Purdue University is a public research facility in West Lafayette, Indiana specializing in science, tech, engineering and math studies
Trump, 78, signed a January 30 executive order to cancel the student visas of anyone who had shown support for the Palestinian terror group. (Pictured: A pro-Palestine camp at Columbia)
While the President’s post today suggests he has double-downed on his plan for Gaza, it appears to run counter to US public opinion, which polls have shown is overwhelmingly opposed to new entanglements in conflict zones
The US is pushing Israel and Hamas to keep its ceasefire in place. Talks about the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which aims to end the war, began on Monday.
Trump’s latest executive order, due to be signed on Wednesday, is his second focusing on anti-Semitism.
During a rally in New Jersey last May, Trump also promised: ‘When I am President, we will not allow our colleges to be taken over by violent radicals.
‘And if you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you.’
He also tackled the issue in his first term.
In 2019, Trump signed an executive order instructing federal officials to expand the interpretation of the Civil Rights Act to include ‘discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism’.
This added anti-Semitism to the list of prohibited behavior for programs which receive federal funding.
Supporters of Palestine gather at Harvard University
Worried college students at some universities have begun deleting the names of pro-Palestine protesters published online in response to Trump pledging to deport ‘Hamas sympathizers’
Panicked college pupils at Purdue University in Indiana have begun deleting the names of ‘pro-Palestine students’ published online in response to Donald Trump pledging to deport ‘Hamas sympathizers’. (Pictured: Pro-Palestine protesters holding signs in New York on April 30)
During the college campus protests, some Republicans wanted to use that order to take away federal funding from universities which defended the demonstrations as free speech.
Republicans denounced the protests during the 2024 election campaign as an example of liberal bias at elite universities.
Several House committees, led by Republicans, investigated federal funding to colleges and threatened to withhold research grants and other government support.
And they issued a report calling for more to be done to address anti-Semitism.
Since the ceasefire announcement between Israel and Hamas, college protests have subsided.
