Regarding the Executive Order on Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism issued by President Trump, American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, welcomes the Trump Administration’s commitment to “combat antisemitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.”

We endorse without hesitation the instruction to identify statutes to prevent discrimination against Jews, and the call to apply existing laws to address civil rights violations relating to antisemitism in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack against Israel. With that said, it is vital that other provisions in the Executive Order which have the potential to be broadly interpreted to threaten certain ethnic and religious groups be implemented with strict adherence to existing law.

Those in the United States on temporary work or student visas who have been found to provide material support or resources to designated terror organizations–as defined by the Supreme Court and distinguished from the exercise of free speech–are clearly in violation of the law and are therefore unworthy of the privilege of being in this country.  

Regarding the Executive Order’s instruction for federal agencies to identify authorities to counter antisemitism, AJC has proposed that the Administration utilize all available regulatory tools to address the scourge of Jew-hatred. To date, the most-used regulation across federal agencies to counter antisemitism has been Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. However, in addition to Title VI, there are additional federal statutes that should be highlighted and considered as they specifically state that discrimination based on religion is prohibited. AJC has published a Guide to Federal Statutes that Protect Jews from Discrimination, which details various statutes across nearly all federal agencies and departments. 

 

AJC is a strictly non-partisan 501(c)3 organization.

AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC’s mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. For more, please visit www.ajc.org.

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