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Breaking: Trump to cancel pro-Palestinian protesters’ student visas

The new executive order was signed in an effort to combat antisemitism, particularly across college campuses

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Pro-Palestine protesters march from Old Main to Tempe Beach Park on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Tempe.


President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that would cancel student visas for pro-Palestinian protesters who are international students, deporting non-citizen college students who have taken part in protests in the past, according to a White House official.

The executive order instructed the Department of Justice to prosecute all violence and threats against Jewish people in America. The DOJ is ordered to put federal resources toward fighting antisemitism, especially around college campuses.

"I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before," Trump said in the fact sheet reported by Reuters.

Protests sprung up on campuses around the nation after Hamas' attack on Israel in 2023. Over 70 people were arrested at the Old Main encampment in April 2024. Charges were filed against 68 people, 20 of whom were students. 

READ MORE: Arrested students seek preliminary injunction after suspension, speak on arrest treatment 

"ASU is reviewing the executive orders issued by President Trump as they are issued to assess their possible impact on Arizona State University," an ASU spokesperson said in a statement. 

The ASU spokesperson also said the University does not have any instructions on further steps to take yet.

According to Reuters, the White House said pro-Palestinian protesters prevented Jewish students from attending class or synagogue and were engaging in pro-Hamas activities. 

Many pro-Palestinian students have disagreed with this statement.

The "Additional Measures to Combat Campus Anti-Semitism," reaffirmed a previous executive order from Trump's first term, according to Section 1 of the Executive Order. 

"Mr. Trump can try, he can try all he wants, he can wreak havoc in this country," Maher Arekat, a board member and founder of the Arizona Palestine Network, said. "We have our campuses, we have freedom of speech, we have the First Amendment."

Trump's new order comes in the wake of his 2024 campaign platform, where he vowed to "deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again." 

"It's sad if Arizona State University would take sides," Arekat said. "We should not be taking sides, ASU is a place of education."

Hayden Nguyen, a sophomore studying management and business and co-chair of Students for Justice in Palestine, said international students who have protested with SJP before are scared.

"I hope that ASU will see this as a violation of their values … ASU, which claims to be a beacon of the community, a community that's full of immigrants, run by immigrants, whose immigrants work at ASU, whose international students improve the economy and study at ASU," Nguyen said. "I hope that ASU sees that they reject that, I hope that ASU becomes a sanctuary campus, and I hope that ASU is the first in line to speak up against this."

Edited by George Headley, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.


Reach the reporters at elbradfo@asu.edu and pkfung@asu.edu and follow @emmalbradford__ and @FungPippa on X.  

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Pippa FungPolitics Reporter

Pippa is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication with minors in political science and German. This is her second semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Blaze Radio and the Los Alamos National Lab.


Emma BradfordPolitics Reporter

Emma is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication and political science, with a minor in business. This is her second semester with The State Press. 


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