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Should we celebrate deportations of pro-Palestinian activists?
Trump's order to expel ‘pro-jihadist’ protesters is troubling – and it’s not because I love them so much
Many Jewish friends are excited that #Betar, a pro-Israel organization, sent the federal government a list of pro-Hamas activists who are now eligible for deportation under an Executive Order (EO) from the new administration. The vibe is “We won!”
Betar named students and professors in the US on visas who are allegedly engaging in anti-Israel/pro-Hamas activities on campus. To prevent such people from entering the country, and get rid of those who are here, The EO states, “The United States must ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”
My enthusiasm for this move is rather modest. While I want these people gone for abusing the privilege of an American visa to threaten Jews on campus, I also hope they challenge the EO in court and test its constitutional validity. Anyone affected by the EO should be afforded all the rights and due process they are entitled to in the US legal system.
A risk to everyone’s rights
Why? It’s not because I love them so much. It’s because those are my rights, too. If their rights in this country can be unilaterally and unaccountably erased based on a presidential whim, then so can mine. And so can yours, whoever you are.
It troubles me that some American Jews are willing to risk everyone’s rights by expanding the powers of the executive. Instead, we should focus on preserving the United States Constitution, the revolutionary law that has ensured the rights of American Jews for 238 years. Before that, Jews had not enjoyed full rights anywhere in the world since the Churban HaBayit in 70 CE. Jews, perhaps more than other people, should know better than to advocate for a disliked minority to lose its rights.
American Jews should remember that anything that can be done for us can also be done to us. It should trouble us that the EO can target people for deportation based on vague and frighteningly flexible parameters like “hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions.”
Once the executive has arrogated a new power, it can be difficult to claw back into the hands of the people. We would be wise to keep this in mind, given that the USA is full of people who characterize Jews and Israelis as having hostile attitudes toward the country’s citizens, culture, government, and institutions.
A troubling future
Furthermore, Jews who support this EO might want to ponder what the lavishly funded pro-Palestinian movement is up to right now. The well-organized forces of Jew-hatred are surely building their own lists of Jewish “terrorists” they want to have kicked out of the United States. As of now, such a list has little chance of producing results, but who’s to say who might be in power to execute this type of program in the future? Once the executive has the power to deport based on “attitudes,” Jews are vulnerable to his or her personal biases or grift.
A troubling future is rapidly arriving on this front. Six out of ten Americans under 30 have anti-Israel views. A small but influential cohort of American youth, exemplified by 55% of Yale undergraduates, thinks Hamas is on the right side of the current war. A comparable group is growing on the opposite side of the political spectrum, embracing the Nazi view that Jews are a poison that’s destroying American society. Wait until they comprise a plurality of voters and leaders in this country. What kind of EOs will their presidents produce?
Unless leaders with the exact views of the current administration stay in power permanently, I think we are likely to see future EOs that target Zionists—leading to a situation where Israelis could be barred from entering the US, and those who are here on visas getting thrown out. Going further, who’s to say that American Jews won’t similarly be persecuted without due process for their assumed support of Zionism? If subjective “attitudes” are all that are required for a loss of legal rights, we better watch out.
Throughout history, Jews have been subjected to systematic, cruel bans and deportations. Don’t think it can’t happen here. We need to temper our enthusiasm for moves that produce short-term “wins” but can potentially threaten our rights and freedoms in the future.
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