TAMPA, Fla. – Two universities in Florida are among the 60 schools the Trump administration is investigating for antisemitism.
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Linda McMahon, the new secretary of education, released the list on Monday that includes the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida.
Trump also released a statement saying there are students across the country who have engaged in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic,” and “anti-American” activities.
“We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again,” Trump wrote.
McMahon said in a statement that the investigations follow “relentless antisemitic eruptions” that have caused Jewish students to fear for their safety.
“U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege,” McMahon said.
According to the department, the investigations are in response to complaints about alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination.
Last week, the Trump administration announced “the immediate cancelation” of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University.
In response, Donna Lieberman, the New York Civil Liberties Union’s executive director, said in a statement that the strategy was unconstitutional since it was meant “to coerce” the censoring of students who criticize Israel or support Palestinians.
Lieberman also condemned the arrest on Saturday night by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate who has protested Israel’s response to the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when the Islamic militants killed 1,200 and kidnapped 251.
Khalil, 30, was born in Syria. The Associated Press reported that according to his biography, his parents are Palestinian, he graduated from the Lebanese American University in Beirut, worked for British diplomats, and earned a master’s degree from Columbia in December. His wife is a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant and he has a green card.
Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, wrote on X on Sunday that his administration “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”
On Monday, a federal judge stopped Khalil’s deportation ahead of a hearing on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Israel continues negotiations to recover hostages after agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November and Hamas in January. The U.S. has considered both Hamas and Hezbollah to be foreign terrorist organizations since 1997.