“You need to take action to restore order and protect Jewish students on our college campuses. President Biden issued a statement on Sunday, purporting to condemn the outbreak of anti-Semitism. If that statement was serious, it must be accompanied by immediate action from your departments.”
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and colleagues in urging U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to restore order on college campuses where antisemitic, pro-Hamas mobs have threatened Jewish students.
The senators requested an update on efforts to protect Jewish students by April 24.
“Anti-Israel protestors, spurred on by prominent leftists, have gathered on college campuses in recent days, chanting anti-Semitic slogans and directly threatening Jewish students. The situation has so devolved that a prominent Jewish rabbi at Columbia University urged Jewish students to flee campus and stay away for their own safety. . . . [V]iolence and threats against Jewish students have also been committed at other so-called ‘elite’ universities in recent days,” the senators wrote.
“You need to take action to restore order and protect Jewish students on our college campuses. President Biden issued a statement on Sunday, purporting to condemn the outbreak of anti-Semitism. If that statement was serious, it must be accompanied by immediate action from your departments,” they continued.
“Rioting violates federal law. Violence or attempted violence against anyone because of their Jewish heritage violates federal law. School administrators’ failure to protect Jewish students from discrimination or harassment violates federal law and is grounds for those schools losing access to federal funds. Espousing support for terrorists such as Hamas violates federal immigration law and is grounds for deportation,” the senators concluded.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also signed the letter.
The full letter is available here.