Arab-American civil liberties group says international students under attack after Trump order

The Arab American Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) said in a statement Saturday that is has received several reports of pro-Israeli groups targeting international students in a bid to have them deported from the US. This follows an Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump on Monday that makes reference to the extreme vetting and banning of foreign nationals if they appear to harbour negative feelings toward American interests or "culture". 

The ADC established a 24/7 legal hotline to report incidents of harassment last week: 1-844-232-9955. 

"Under this new Executive Order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can deny or revoke visas based on ideological beliefs," the statement said. "A number of US-based extremist Zionist groups have begun harassing Arab, Palestinian students. These groups are directly contacting students and making threats to report them to DHS officials to be placed on a 'jihadi deportee list.' These groups are also pressuring universities across the country to report the names of international students to DHS and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE), in hopes of having them removed from the US."
 
"Make no mistake - the actions taken by these radical third party groups have one intention, and that is to silence any students who show support for Palestine," the statement read.

"All Americans must reject any attempts to use ideology as a basis of removal of individuals from the US, or to deny visa applications for entry into the US. These actions, along with the actions of extremist Zionist organizations, strip away the First Amendment Rights of Americans."