Register for FREE to continue using Reuters.com
Donald Trump Calls Student Protests ‘Illegal,’ Threatens to Imprison Those Who Participate
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote in a social media post, adding that students may be expelled, arrested or deported
KENA BETANCUR/AFP VIA GETTY
President Donald Trump is threatening to punish student protestors — and schools that allow “illegal” protests to unfold without repercussions.
On Tuesday, March 4, the politician said that he will expel and potentially imprison or deport students who participate in certain protests via a heated message on Truth Social.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote on his social media website. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came.”
He continued: “American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The right to protest in most public spaces is protected by the First Amendment. Trump did not specify what makes a protest illegal in his eyes, though his note about masks suggests that, at a minimum, he would target people who wear face-covering masks to protests.
SAMUEL CORUM/SIPA/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY
The threat follows a wave of pro-Palestine student protests — which the Trump Administration has previously criticized — amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.
In January, Trump signed an executive order to “combat the explosion of anti-Semitism on our campuses and in our streets since October 7, 2023,” also known as the date that Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel.
The executive orders states that “immediate action will be taken by the Department of Justice to protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” per the White House website.
Trump vowed to “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses.”
Despite the accusations of violence, The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data reported in May 2024 that 97% of student demonstrations that occurred from Oct. 7, 2023, to May 3, 2024, were peaceful.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “Police and government officials are allowed to place certain nondiscriminatory and narrowly drawn ‘time, place and manner’ restrictions on the exercise of First Amendment rights.”
However, the organization also notes, “Any such restrictions must apply to all speech regardless of its point of view.”
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP VIA GETTY
Yesterday, three federal agencies — the Department Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the General Services Administration — announced that they will be reviewing the federal support received by Columbia University in New York City “in light of ongoing investigations for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.”
“Given Columbia’s ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students, the Federal Government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government,” a joint press release read.
“The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University to ensure the university is in compliance with federal regulations, including its civil rights responsibilities.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement: “Anti-Semitism — like racism — is a spiritual and moral malady that sickens societies and kills people with lethalities comparable to history’s most deadly plagues.”
He continued, “In recent years, the censorship and false narratives of woke cancel culture have transformed our great universities into greenhouses for this deadly and virulent pestilence. Making America healthy means building communities of trust and mutual respect, based on speech freedom and open debate.”
Related Articles
Follow Us
Trump: American students will be ‘permanently expelled’ or arrested for campus protests
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened colleges’ federal funding for allowing “illegal protests” and said American students will be expelled.
“All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The social media post comes after a federal task force on antisemitism last week announced it would visit 10 college campuses that had antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.
The institutions include: Columbia University, George Washington University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, Northwestern University, the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Minnesota and the University of Southern California.
Several of these institutions had high-profile anti-war protests in the months following the attack and faced intense scrutiny from Republicans in Congress.
Trump has already signed an executive order directing the Justice Department and attorney general to take “immediate action” to prosecute antisemitic crimes like vandalism and intimidation as well as investigate “anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.”
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Education and the General Services Administration on Monday also announced a comprehensive review of Columbia University’s federal contracts and grants because of an ongoing Title VI investigation into the school.
All schools that receive federal funds must comply with Title VI, a federal law that bars discrimination based on shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics or national origin. Schools who violate the law could be at risk of losing funding.
Columbia is at risk of losing $51.4 million in federal contracts for “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students,” according to a press release that said the government is considering “stop work orders” for those contracts. The task force also said it will conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia.
“Institutions that receive federal funds have a responsibility to protect all students from discrimination,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Columbia’s apparent failure to uphold their end of this basic agreement raises very serious questions about the institution’s fitness to continue doing business with the United States government.”
