Anti-Israel protesters demonstrating outside Baruch College wore Hamas headbands and bearing flags and symbols of terror groups, June 5, 2024. (Luke Tress)
(JTA) — The U.S. State Department plans to use artificial intelligence to detect students from abroad who support Hamas, with the goal of canceling their visas and deporting them.
That’s according to a report Thursday from Axios, which cited unnamed department officials who said they planned to use AI to surveil the social media of students on visas. The plan is called “Catch and Revoke,” a callback to the “catch and release” approach to managing illegal immigration that Republicans have decried.
Separately, Fox News reported that the department has already revoked the visa of one student who participated in campus demonstrations against Israel amid the war in Gaza, that began which Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The student and campus were not identified.
And the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee told NPR this week that it had heard from at least a dozen students, including some from Gaza, who were unable to reenter the country after winter break because their visas were canceled without explanation.
Together, the developments signal that the Trump administration is moving aggressively to carry out President Donald Trump’s promise not to allow international students who support terrorism to remain in the country.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said in a fact sheet that accompanied the executive order, repeating a pledge he made during his presidential campaign. “I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”
The executive order was billed as an effort to fight antisemitism and it has divided Jewish groups. Some say it reflects a dangerous erosion of civil liberties, while others have offered cautious support with the caveat that civil rights protections should be applied. Others yet have embraced the order and offered to help. The far-right group Betar US, which launched in response to the protests, says it has submitted the names of dozens of students it believes should be deported to the White House.
Thousands of students were arrested at campus pro-Palestinian protests and encampments last year. It is not known how many were on visas, though State Department officials are reportedly working to ascertain that information. The department says the Biden administration did not revoke any visas following those arrests.
The State Department has not detailed what kinds of demonstrations or social media posts would, in its view, constitute support for Hamas. Demonstrations on some campuses — including at Barnard College in New York City this week — have included open support and admiration for Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist group. The demonstrations have also featured many students offering vocal support for the Palestinians and intense criticism of Israel without open support for Hamas.
Civil rights advocates say they are concerned that the Trump administration will penalize pro-Palestinian students who have not violated any laws or expressed support for Hamas. They also are expressing concern about the use of AI, a new technology that has advanced even since Oct. 7, to surveil students.
Advocates for and against the administration’s efforts both say they expect them to wind up in court. For now, though, the crackdown is already creating a chill on college campuses, according to the NPR report, which found that some foreign students are increasingly hesitant about participating in any pro-Palestinian events, even when they are not demonstrations against Israel.
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