The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the Trump administration’s AI-infused “Catch and Revoke” visa program as a direct assault on free speech and an overt attempt to stifle rightful criticism of Israel’s genocidal treatment of Palestinians.
Under this new initiative, Axios reports that the State Department — working alongside the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security — will reportedly use artificial intelligence to monitor the social media accounts of foreign nationals (prospective and current students, as well as worker visa holders) for any expressions critical of Israel’s actions in Palestinian territories. CAIR warns that such monitoring seeks to punish constitutionally protected speech and is designed to create a chilling effect on individuals raising awareness about human rights abuses in Palestine.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw said:
“The Trump administration’s AI-driven ‘Catch and Revoke’ campaign will not only target and censor foreign students and workers; it also sets a dangerous precedent for the future of political expression in this country. In a nation founded on the principles of free speech and expression, any government program that punishes non-violent, constitutionally protected human rights protests and advocacy should alarm every American. Congress must immediately investigate the legal basis and technological methods behind this program to ensure it is not trampling on individuals’ legally protected speech or propping up a foreign nation’s interests over our constitutional principles. Americans should not stand by while U.S. agencies misuse flawed AI technology and questionable tactics to criminalize moral outrage at genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other war crimes committed against Palestinians.”
CAIR further warns that, through executive orders and related administrative directives, President Trump has falsely declared pro-Palestinian human rights rallies—many of which occur on college campuses—to be “illegal” under material support for terrorism statutes. CAIR rejects this allegation as both baseless and deliberately misleading. Despite the reality that the majority of pro-Palestinian human rights protests—including those on campuses—are often organized by American-born citizens of Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths, it remains both lawful and morally justified to protest Israel’s well-documented record of:
- Ongoing Acts of Genocide and Other War Crimes in Gaza: The health ministry in Gaza reports at least 60,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza. An additional 2 million people have also been forcibly displaced and over 100,000 have been injured in Gaza. The medical journal The Lancet, separately reported last year some 186,000 may have died since Israel’s invasion of Gaza began in October 2023.
- Ethnic Cleansing in the West Bank: An estimated 40,000 Palestinians have recently been displaced through systematic expulsions and demolitions.
- Illegal Occupation of Palestinian Territories: International legal bodies and human rights organizations have consistently affirmed the illegality of Israel’s continued occupation.
- Documented Acts of False Imprisonment, Torture, Rape, and Murder: Multiple reputable U.N., human rights, and media investigations have cataloged numerous human rights abuses against Palestinian civilians under Israeli control.
On Tuesday, CAIR condemned an unconstitutional threat by President Donald Trump to punish anti-genocide student protesters and academic institutions that allow “illegal” protests. On Truth Social, Trump wrote: “All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on [sic] on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Last year, CAIR released ‘Hostile’: How Universities Target Anti-Genocide Protesters, detailing unprecedented efforts across the country to suppress students from advocating for Palestinians.
In January, CAIR announced the launch of a dedicated webpage, titled “Hostile Campuses,” as part of its “Unhostile Campus Campaign” aimed at fostering a campus environment in which Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, and other students, faculty, and staff opposing the genocide in Gaza enjoy free speech and academic freedom and are not subjected to state force or university discipline due to their viewpoints.
Students, staff, and faculty who wish for their university or college campus to be potentially designated as a hostile campus should complete the ‘Report a Hostile Campus’ form. This form is intended solely to inform CAIR’s ‘UnHostile Campus Campaign.’ Individuals seeking CAIR’s legal and advocacy services should contact their local office or chapter, or if there is no local chapter, file a formal report with CAIR’s National Civil Rights Department.
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CONTACT: CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw, 202-999-8292, rmccaw@cair.com, CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor, 202-384-8857, csaylor@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com