Muslim civil rights and advocacy group says President Trump should ‘pursue an America First agenda, not an Israel First agenda’
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called a reported Trump administration executive order attacking free speech and dismissing Palestinian suffering under the guise of combatting antisemitism a “dishonest, overbroad and unenforceable” attempt to smear college students who protested against the Israeli government’s genocidal war on Gaza in overwhelmingly peaceful ways.
President Trump is expected to sign the executive order threatening to deport college students here on student visas and other “resident aliens” who took part in anti-genocide protests. The broad language of the order appears to threaten deportation based on unprovable ideological tests and for mere participation in any anti-genocide protests, which the order’s fact sheet broadly mischaracterizes as “pro-jihadist,” “violent” and “antisemitic.”
CAIR: Trump administration to cancel student visas of pro-Palestinian protesters – Reuters
CAIR: Trump admin to deport students who took part in pro-Palestinian protests – TRT World
CAIR notes that last year, The Guardian reported that “an independent non-profit that tracks political violence and political protests around the world found that 97% of campus demonstrations over the war in Gaza that have taken place in the US since mid-April have been peaceful.” Many of the protests were co-organized by Jewish and Palestinian student groups.
In a statement, CAIR said:
“Free speech is a cornerstone of our Constitution that no president can wipe away with an executive order. Like the college students who once protested segregation, the Vietnam war, and apartheid South Africa, the diverse collection of college students who protested against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza deserve our country’s thanks.
“The Trump administration’s attempt to smear the many Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian and other college students who protested the Israeli government’s genocide in overwhelmingly peaceful ways represents a dishonest, overbroad and unenforceable attack on both free speech and the humanity of Palestinians, all for the sake of a foreign government. So is the administration’s apparent threat to deport any foreign student who merely participated in anti-genocide protests.
“It is also important to note that the order completely ignores real and documented incidents of anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim violence against American college students by pro-Israel extremists, potentially including some Israeli soldiers here on student visas.”
“It’s time for President Trump to pursue an America First agenda, not an Israel First agenda.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging white supremacy, antisemitism, anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and all other forms of bigotry.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Director of Government Affairs Department Robert S. McCaw, 202-716-6242, 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