In the flurry of executive orders issued by Donald Trump in the first few days of his second presidential term, one in particular stands out. Just recently, the President signed an order instructing various law enforcement agencies to urgently investigate antisemitism on US university campuses, and propose recommendations for how to solve this putative crisis. With customary bluster, Trump is promising very harsh punishments for the people in his sights: those who “sympathise” with Hamas will supposedly soon have their student visas revoked and face deportation from the United States.
In some ways, this represents a chilling step toward abrogating the rights of free speech — which in America are not just protected by law, but are also a part of the culture and self-identity of the nation. It used to be that Americans would lambast “nanny state Europe” for caring more about feelings than rights and trying to micromanage speech rules rather than err on the side of freedom. But those days are now mostly gone. As the political situation has worsened, as more and more Americans have lost faith in the political system, and as polarisation has become more pronounced, the country’s political class has clearly retreated from its earlier, optimistic view of the power of free speech.
Trump’s executive order is more reflective of a broader attitude than a practical plan. For one thing, the very serious waves of student protests during 2024 over Israel’s war in Gaza were hardly driven by foreign nationals — the overwhelming majority of “problem students” are those who have American citizenship and who thus cannot be deported in the first place. The idea that people would pay very large sums of money to travel to America specifically in order to protest is not particularly realistic.
What’s more, the question of how to practically implement Trump’s desires here ought to prompt a great deal of head-scratching. If “Hamas sympathisers” are meant to be deported, how exactly is that “sympathy” meant to be detected? Is partaking in a political protest itself sufficient proof, or will the state perhaps hire other students to serve as informants and spies, writing reports on things said in dormitory hallways and over the internet? If it’s the former, one wonders whether conduct that is completely legal for Americans to partake in can actually serve as grounds for deportation without facing serious legal challenges.
In the end, though, the question of foreigners spreading “radicalism” is very much a red herring. America’s radicalism today is home-grown, and though both Democrats and Republicans have become increasingly eager to try and ban their way to political peace and quiet, it seems unlikely that either side will ever manage to succeed. In 2020, then-President Joe Biden signed similar measures hunting for “radicals” and “extremists” within the US Army and National Guard: the end result was a self-defeating, onerous bureaucratic witch hunt that pretty much everyone now regrets.
Americans are ultimately contentious, outspoken people who react badly to attempts at speech control — anyone who doubts that only has to look at Donald Trump himself.
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SubscribeI’m in favor of free speech at all times. People shouldn’t be jailed just for protesting, and honestly, nobody, including the President, is actually suggesting that. He ordered them to investigate antisemitism, not to actually do anything. An investigation might find nothing, or it might find an actual Hamas agent who revealed others or proved a valuable source of intelligent. It’s naive to believe that other countries and organizations like Hamas don’t use things like the US’s fairly liberal student visa policy to get people into the country. This is how international espionage works. If you want to spy, you have to have somebody in the country to either get on the inside themselves or identify possible targets who already are inside and might be receptive to an offer of compensation for sensitive information. Further, a lot of important scientific research is done at universities. What better way to know who has access to cutting edge research than a student taking classes from these professors. There are far worse offenders than Hamas such as China, Iran, Russia, and others that the President (or whoever wrote the order I doubt he does it all himself) probably didn’t feel needed to be mentioned because they’re already being investigated.
That’s all that’s going on here, reminding anyone who might need reminding that Islamic terrorism is a threat that should be taken seriously for what the threat it has been and still is, not ignored for the sake of diversity or sensitivity. The American people voted against that nonsense so here’s a reminder to the agents officially under my command that we’re not going to have any more nonsense. Further we’re talking about people who have broken the law. Not a serious offense, and nothing problematic in most cases, but a legal reason to investigate, and as any good detective knows, investigating one crime can lead lead to the discovery of others.
Further, it bears repeating that non-citizens do not have the same rights as citizens. There are ways to change that, by amending the Constitution to extend the rights of citizens to anybody. Such a proposal would be so politically toxic it wouldn’t even get debated by some sub-committee even if the Democrats had control of Congress and the Presidency. Until and unless the people change the Constitution, which they won’t, open borders activists whining about the free speech rights of non citizens can go pound sand.
For the last effing time Unherd nerds, the protests are against Israel and what they have been doing in Gaza. The disingenuous game from the “lobby” and mainstream media is to paint it as a hatred of Jews, even though a large swathe of the protestors are Jewish groups. It’s dumb and those idiots above me here keep taking the bait.
Surely we all love free speech that enables us to criticise a sovereign nations actions, especially a nation who get assistance from the U.S and U.K?
What happened to all the free speech lovers? Hypocrites.
This article seems to me rather ill-informed. Qatar pumps in billions to US universities, sponsors campuses and Middle-Eastern studies courses taught by professors from the Middle East and taken by overseas students.Some of those professors and students have led and taken part in protests that have openly supported Hamas. I just don’t see the point in not saying that.
You’ve been psy-op’d by the ‘Israel’ lobby.
I think you mean he disagrees with you.
Logical thinking isn’t your strongest asset is it?
Does the writer understand how it works? The grounds for deportation would not be “protest” but not having a valid visa. Why is Unherd publishing this guff?
On a separate note one of the planks of Trump’s presidential run was that those who were not meant to be in the country should behave in a civil manner. If not, go home. Sounds to me like he is complaining about politicians doing what they said they would do.
Anyone who protests against the carpet bombing of women and children by the psycopathic right-wing leaders of ‘Israel’ is now “antisemitic” or “pro Hamas” or something bad! Doesn’t matter, get them out of here and shut down all criticism of the genocide. To hell with free speech and the constitution! We’re America and we put our trust and faith in Netanyahu alone. Shalom from Trump.
Are we really supposed to believe that, if it was within their power, the low IQ butchers and rapists of Hamas would not inflict something much worse on the ‘women and children’ of Israel? You sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind.
Unfortunately for the people of Gaza, the people putting them in harms way is Hamas and the un.
Yep. Those UN 2 tonne bombs that kill scores of children to get one A.I allocated target are the issue alright.
UN psychos.
Do you hear yourself?
At least read yourself.
Unfortunately for the people of Israel, the people putting them in harm’s way are Netanyahu and the Kahanists.
“… outspoken people who react badly to attempts at speech control — anyone who doubts that only has to look at Donald Trump himself.”
Yet he was elected! Perhaps it’s a little unwise to assume what other people want!
I believe the core assumption here is wrong. Slogans regularly chanted at campus demonstrations such as “Glory to our martyrs!” and “Allah akbar!, ” and the prayer mats, are not coming from blue-haired, multi-pronouned U. S. students. They are coming from the core of Middle Eastern students that are the defacto leadership of pro-Hamas campus demonstrations here.
I hope Trump’s administration deports all of these Hamas supporters and bans them permanently from re-entry into the USA.
It’s hard to imagine an author being more wrong about a subject matter. It is well known that the main reason why many of the universities at the forefront of these protests coddled these students during their antisemitic rage was due to the full boat tuition their foreign students pay. In addition, first amendment rights are granted to citizens of the United States. A foreign student on a visa is a guest in our country and should act like a guest. I can’t even imagine what some totalitarian foreign regimes would do to American students who decided to waive American flags and block access to classrooms.
If they were to “waive” the US flag they could find themselves in trouble!
Indeed, what would they wave in its place?
Ditto the British flag…mind you doing that can get you into trouble even in the UK.
I am reminded of the case of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who was imprisoned in North Korea in 2016 on a charge of subversion. In June 2017, he was released by North Korea in a vegetative state and died soon after his parents requested his feeding tube be removed. What was his crime? He stood accused a committing a hostile act agains the state, allegedly he stole a propaganda poster.
Or Israeli flags!
another way of Deportierte!
It’s ironic, but once again when we talk about shit, the illustration is a crowd of crazy bitches
I expect the worst from Unherd commenters and I am rarely disappointed. And you people wonder why we think you are morons – I think the upticks for this comment is a fine explanation.
Thanks again!
Trust me, slick, it really is my pleasure!!!
Visas are issued at the pleasure of the State Department. Visitors have been sent packing for far less. For instance, if you admit to a border control agent that you have ever smoked weed you will be banned for life. Revoking the visas of antisemitic extremists has little to nothing to do with free speech.
Exactly. This isn’t an anti-free speech measure but a crackdown on immigrants in the country who refuse to integrate or follow the laws of the USA. And demonstrating overt support of a terrorist organization in ways that violate US law and rules of decent and respoectful behaviour reveals values and attitudes that are incompatible with living in the USA.
Even UK’s Prince Harry is being investigated for writing in his memoir that he was a habitual drug user….a number on the right want to boot him back to his island or origin.
This article fails. The problem is not antisemitism. The problem is violence, vandalism and intimidation. Whether your cause is Jew hate or Zionism, theses behaviors are not protected by the US Constitution.
No, it’s not possible to deport anti-Semites, though it is possible to deport foreign anti-Semites. Just because America isn’t able to get rid of all its anti-Semites is no reason for not getting rid of those it can. After all, does anyone seriously think they would be a loss to the US? I’m sure the author will say this is irrelevant and get lost in tangle of legal niceties when anyone with eyes to see would jump at the first opportunity to get rid of such undesirables.
Is criticism of Israel anti semetic?
What is anti-semitism?
What is islamaphobia?
The pogroms and holocaust happened in Europe. Seems to be a lot of deflection and guilt going on here.
I think Mr.Kyeyune is wrong about exactly who might be a target of this exercise.
The effort to “polish Hamas’ apple”, which began immediately after the Hamas rampage, and before the Israelis even responded, certainly seemed to be planned. And the university protests included an unusual number of 30something-ish Arabic men. Since one doesn’t need to be a student to join in a mass protest, I’m convinced that many of those responsible really were outside agitators.
I for one, wouldn’t mind seeing them deported. For security reasons, not speech offenses.
And we should keep in mind that Trump has had some success with the peripheral effects of his threats. It would be interesting to re-visit this topic in six months or a year.
It goes beyond free speech. Some of those anti-semitic students violently attacked others.
Good Trump, bad Trump. This is bad Trump.
In the UK, Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, so expressing support for it is a crime. Not that our police seem to show much enthusiasm for enforcing the law.
I don’t know what the law is in the USA but Trump is gratifyingly keen on enforcement.
A student visa is a privilege, not a right, and the host country’s hospitality should not be abused. Yvette Cooper take note.
The expression “f**k around, find out” comes to mind.