Donald Trump’s administration has declared war on foreign students, and while many might think it has something to do with antisemitism, the real truth is far from that, and it was exposed by Vice President JD Vance. On Monday, Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by the Trump administration, as they claimed he needed to be deported to “halt the spread of antisemitism.”
He was lured into the immigration office by ICE who claimed there was an update on his citizenship application process. However, despite their claims, Secretary of State Marco Rubio failed to provide any solid evidence to demonstrate Mahdawi’s link with antisemitism activities. If anything, he has only publicly stated otherwise. “The fight for the freedom of Palestine and the fight against antisemitism go hand in hand because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” that’s what the Columbia student said during his 2023 “60 Minutes” interview. A friend of his, Mikey Barat, also stated despite some disagreement between them, Mahdawi has strongly “denounced violence” and seeks “coexistence.”
However, Mahdawi is not the only one who was targeted by the Trump administration. Very similar, Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate and green card holder, was also arrested for participating in the Gaza protest activities. Then, Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts student on a visa from Turkey, also faced the wrath of the government for signing an op-ed opposing the war. Neither of them could be linked to antisemitism either.
Mahmoud Khalil’s words after today’s hearing. pic.twitter.com/Ktpj3Zf3UU
— Jason Paladino (@jason_paladino) April 11, 2025
Although it needs to be acknowledged that a few Gaza protestors unfortunately engaged in it, there is no solid evidence that Donald Trump has a strong objection against it. This is because he and many of his allies often use the “antisemitic great replacement” conspiracy theory. So, is it being used as an empty pretext for the administration’s war on foreign students? Rubio has revoked more than a thousand student visas all over the United States, yet failed to produce real evidence of antisemitism for most of them.
While the White House keeps tight-lipped about the real reason behind these deportations, JD Vance let it slip last month. He claimed that foreign students are “bad for American kids who want to go to a nice university but can’t because their spot was taken by a foreign student.” Though many of the MAGA supporters with really bad SAT scores also believe the same, Vance’s statement was cheap, to say the least.
“I think we’ll certainly see some people who get deported on student visas if we determine that it’s not in the best interest of the United States to have them in our country.”
Vice President JD Vance discusses foreign students studying at universities in America. pic.twitter.com/hvoRd8edhh
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 14, 2025
The “antisemitism” excuse only shows that Donald Trump is trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, he is letting his supporters believe that their Harvard spots have been taken by a few Palestinians and Russians who are protesting against their own country for the Ukraine invasion.
On the other hand, he also doesn’t want to alarm the wealthy donors that there might be a shortage of skilled workers in fields like tech and medicine due to this crackdown. They are only going after the “troublemakers”; this is what the administration wants elites to believe while also getting their agenda fulfilled by targeting the likes of Mahdawi, Ozturk, and Khalil, all of whom pass the spectacle of being “Muslims.”
