Worried college students at some universities have begun deleting the names of pro-Palestine protesters published online in response to Donald Trump pledging to deport ‘Hamas sympathizers’.
Trump, 78, signed a January 30 executive order to cancel the student visas of anyone who had shown support for the Palestinian terror group.
In response, the editorial board at The Exponent, an unofficial newspaper serving Purdue University, announced in an article that it would be ‘removing the names, images and likenesses of every such student from our website published since Oct. 7, 2023’.
It said the move aimed ‘to protect the identities of pro-Palestinian students’, adding that it ‘refuses to be party to such a blatant violation of the First Amendment rights of potentially hundreds of Purdue students’.
‘Further, in future coverage, no such information or images will be published online or in print by the Exponent — no exceptions — until this autocratic attack on free speech is overturned,’ the article, penned by anonymous ‘editorial staff’ added.
Purdue University is a public research facility in West Lafayette, Indiana specializing in science, tech, and engineering studies. The college told DailyMail.com in a statement that they are ‘unaffiliated’ with The Exponent, which is an ‘independent foundation’.
The Exponent is currently overseen by editor-in-chief Seth Nelson, who writes about ‘poverty, homelessness and drug addiction’ according to his LinkedIn.
Trump’s executive order targets people living in the US on visas, including students, who broke laws during demonstrations following the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel.
The president said he would instruct his Justice Department to ‘aggressively prosecute terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews’.
He added: ‘To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice… we will find you, and we will deport you.
‘I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.’
It was the latest in a slew of orders that Trump has signed since becoming President as he looks to fulfill his campaign promises.
Many universities, particularly Columbia University in New York City, became the site of pro-Palestinian protests last year during the Israel-Hamas war
The students involved made radical demands that their universities sever financial ties to Israel and that the US end its military support for its longtime ally.
Trump’s latest order gives leaders of government agencies and departments 60 days to provide the White House with recommendations on how to identify anti-Semitic threats.
It comes as Trump welcomed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House this week – the first foreign leader to visit during the US president’s second term in office.
During the visit, Trump claimed he would take over Gaza and turn the war-torn Palestinian territory into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’.
