On Wednesday, April 30th, the Senate HELP Committee will consider the misleadingly titled Antisemitism Awareness Act that frames criticism of Israel on college campuses as bigotry.
Join the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in urging the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), and all members of Congress to reject the misleadingly titled Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2025 (S. 558). Introduced by South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, the act would grant President Trump sweeping new powers to silence peaceful anti-genocide protestors under the false pretense of combating antisemitism.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act instructs the Department of Education to enforce the controversial and widely disputed International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. This definition conflates criticism of Israel’s government, history and ideology with antisemitism and is already being weaponized to wrongfully arrest, detain, and possibly deport student protestors and criminalize support for Palestinian human rights. On Wednesday, April 30, the Senate HELP Committeewill hold a hearing to consider the bill. CAIR notes that the act has been separately introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by New York Representative Michael Lawler as H.R. 1007.
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Since returning to office, President Trump has, under the false pretense of combating antisemitism, revoked more than 1,700 student visas, many targeting Muslim, Palestinian, and allied students involved in peaceful anti-genocide protests. Among those affected are Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate, and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University Ph.D. student. Both have been wrongfully detained for opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Neither has been accused of any crime, but rather of effectively shifting the national dialogue on the United States’ complicity in Israel’s ongoing human rights abuses, genocide, and ethnic cleansing.
As part of this campaign, members of Congress will receive the following message from action alert participants:
“The misleadingly titled Antisemitism Awareness Act would hand President Trump a powerful new tool to escalate his politically motivated campaign of repression against anti-genocide student activists. He has already wrongfully arrested students, detained peaceful protestors, and revoked more than 1,700 student visas — all under the false cover of combating antisemitism.”
“Let’s be clear: this bill is not about protecting Jewish students. It’s about silencing critics of U.S. foreign policy and making our nation complicit in Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians.
Kenneth S. Stern, the original drafter of the IHRA definition, has warned against codifying it into law, saying it would be used to suppress political speech and harm academic freedom.
Former Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) criticized earlier versions of the bill, warning that it would chill constitutionally protected speech. Representative Thomas Massie(R-KY), one of the few Republicans to oppose it, cautioned against adopting any single definition that blurs the line between hate and dissent.
The bill has repeatedly failed to become law because of widespread concerns over its impact on free speech. Though the House has passed the bill in past sessions, it has never been adopted by the full Congress due to its deeply controversial and legally flawed premise.
CAIR urges Congress to reject S. 558 and instead focus on addressing the real and growing threats of anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim, and antisemitic discrimination, without infringing on First Amendment rights.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@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