An executive order from President Trump promoting a federal crackdown on campus antisemitism and his threats to cancel visas of pro-Palestinian international students have put California university leaders and activists on alert after many of the nation’s largest and most contentious protests unfolded at their schools.
USC leaders were cautious in comments about the order, saying they adhere to state and federal laws, while a UC spokesman said it was committed to “combating antisemitism” but did not respond to a Trump promise to deport internationals who are “Hamas sympathizers.” The chair of a UCLA Jewish group welcomed the order as an acknowledgment of the “crisis” of campus antisemitism. And a pro-Palestinian UCLA faculty representative described the threats in the order as “authoritarianism, plain and simple.”
The order calls on the federal government to “prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the…
