Trump’s Executive Order on Antisemitism — Explained

The executive order promotes a vague, controversial definition of antisemitism

President Trump’s 2019 executive order, for the first time, mandated the use of a controversial definition of antisemitism, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, including its “contemporary examples.” The IHRA definition and its examples were designed to be an educational tool, not a trigger for anti-discrimination charges. The IHRA antisemitism definition examples include repulsive and combative, yet First Amendment-protected speech, such as Holocaust denial and allegations of dual loyalty. The definition also extends to some forms of criticism of the state of Israel or policies of its government — thereby blurring the distinction between an allegation of antisemitism that triggers a Department of Education anti-discrimination charge and lawful criticism of Israel’s policies or government. Criticism of Israel — even harsh criticism — is not inherently antisemitic. Political protests and the right to criticize government policies are essential components of our democracy. The mandate to use the IHRA definition of antisemitism was chosen by the Trump administration as a tool by which it could restrict or punish speech and lawful pro-Palestinian activities it dislikes.

The Department of Education has been enforcing Title VI anti-discrimination provisions to address antisemitism for more than a decade

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination by recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin — this includes PK-12 and higher education institutions. In 2010, the Department of Justice determined that Title VI extends to students who experience discrimination or harassment based on their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics — including Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, and others.

Violations of Title VI can result in a loss of federal funding to noncompliant programs, following a hearing and other statutorily required procedures. The SPLC is gravely concerned that the IHRA definition’s vague language could be interpreted to treat certain criticism of Israel as antisemitic, which could then result in schools unfairly censoring constitutionally protected political speech by students and faculty that merely criticizes the policies or practices of Israel. The chilling effect could lead to significant consequences and limitations upon academic research and discussion.

The executive order rolls back previously used tools to combat antisemitism

The order is harshly critical of the Biden administration’s “failure to fight anti-Semitism,” while ignoring that administration’s extensive work, including the 60-page May 2023 National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, the Justice Department priority elevation of hate crime enforcement as a highest-level national threat priority, unprecedented hate crime prevention funding, and robust work by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to address antisemitism within its “shared ethnic characteristics” Title VI enforcement. For example, during the Biden administration, the federal government invested a record $38 million in hate crime training and prevention grants and pursued about 140 Department of Education OCR investigations on shared ethnic characteristics, which includes campus antisemitism investigations. These and other efforts resulted in record-high investigations and resolutions involving charges of antisemitism — without imposing a speech-restricting definition of antisemitism.

The executive order weaponizes escalating concerns about antisemitism in furtherance of the Trump administration’s own radical, unconstitutional agenda

It is appropriate to focus on the harms which arise from antisemitism. However, since its issuance, the order has been used by the Trump administration to weaponize antisemitism and to use it as a pretext to advance its political agenda; examples include canceling or suspending billions in government grants and contracts to universities; censoring and restricting First Amendment-protected political speech on college campuses; justifying attacks on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) programs; and arresting, detaining and deporting legal permanent residents and foreign students. 

The order’s accompanying fact sheet contains an indication that combating antisemitism is just a pretext for advancing the administration’s true political goal — a warning to Black and Brown people and other marginalized groups who might protest against Israel’s government policies: “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses.”

In its most recent annual report, the FBI documented the highest levels of reported hate crimes since it began collecting and reporting the data in 1991. Race-based crimes were most numerous, as they have been every year since the FBI began collecting this data; crimes directed against Black Americans constituting, as they have every year, the largest plurality of total hate crimes. Reported hate crimes directed against people and institutions based on religion, sexual orientation and gender identity were at their highest levels ever, as were crimes directed against Hispanic people, Jewish people and Arab people. Effectively addressing record-high reported hate crime will require a more inclusive and comprehensive approach designed to counter all forms of hate.

We should not isolate efforts to combat antisemitism from work to prevent all forms of hate and extremism

Efforts like this executive order, which seeks to isolate antisemitism from other forms of bigotry, such as anti-Black and anti-Asian racism and other forms of discrimination, distracts from the importance of addressing the root causes of hate and bias acts while also failing to prevent and address antisemitism. Instead, we should reprioritize meaningful efforts to dismantle antisemitism and the social machinery used to manufacture fear and divide communities.

The SPLC is continuing to promote an inclusive approach to all executive and congressional efforts to prevent hate violence and is closely tracking the implementation of this executive order for its impact on campus free speech, on threats of punitive funding cuts at universities, and lowering standards for deportation or visa cancellation of protesting foreign students.