EO 14188: Additional Measures To Combat Anti-Semitism
ANALYSIS: This order reaffirms the earlier Executive Order 13899 from December 11, 2019, and introduces further actions to address rising anti-Semitism, particularly in educational institutions, following the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023.
Overview of Executive Order 14188:
Policy Declaration: The United States commits to vigorously combating anti-Semitism using all available legal tools to prosecute and hold accountable those involved in unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.
Agency Directives: Within 60 days of the order, heads of executive departments and agencies are required to:
Identify civil and criminal authorities or actions within their jurisdiction that can be utilized to combat anti-Semitism.
Provide an inventory and analysis of all pending administrative complaints against or involving institutions of higher education related to post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism.
Specific Agency Responsibilities:
Attorney General: Encouraged to employ appropriate civil-rights enforcement authorities, such as 18 U.S.C. § 241, to combat anti-Semitism.
Secretary of Education: To include an inventory and analysis of all Title VI complaints and administrative actions related to anti-Semitism within the Department's Office for Civil Rights.
Monitoring Non-Citizen Students and Staff: The Secretaries of State, Education, and Homeland Security are directed to recommend ways for institutions of higher education to monitor and report activities by non-citizen students and staff that may be grounds for inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3), potentially leading to investigations and removal actions.
FOR EXAMPLE
Relation to Project 2025:
Executive Order 14188 aligns with the project's goals of restructuring federal policies and emphasizing national security.
Negative Impacts of Executive Order 14188:
Critics have raised several concerns regarding the potential negative impacts of Executive Order 14188:
Targeting of Non-Citizens: The directive for educational institutions to monitor and report on non-citizen students and staff has been viewed as a pretext for targeting marginalized groups, particularly from Muslim and immigrant communities, under the guise of combating anti-Semitism.
Chilling Effect on Free Speech: There are concerns that the order could suppress free speech on campuses, especially regarding discussions on Palestinian human rights, by labeling certain criticisms as anti-Semitic.
Strain on Educational Institutions: Requiring institutions to monitor and report on the activities of their non-citizen members may impose additional administrative burdens and foster an environment of surveillance and mistrust.
CONCLUSION: Executive Order 14188 aims to strengthen measures against anti-Semitism, it has been met with criticism over potential infringements on civil liberties, free speech, and the targeting of specific communities. No direct reference. (Project 2025 supports fighting anti-Semitism in principle, but it did not outline specific executive actions. This EO appears to build on prior Trump policies (like an anti-Semitism definition for education) rather than on the Mandate.)
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1 . Purpose. My Administration has fought and will continue to fight anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world. On December 11, 2019, I issued Executive Order 13899, my first Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism, finding that students, in particular, faced anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on university and college campuses. Executive Order 13899 provided interpretive assistance on the enforcement of the Nation's civil rights laws to ensure that they would protect American Jews to the same extent to which all other American citizens are protected. The prior administration effectively nullified Executive Order 13899 by failing to give the terms of the order full force and effect throughout the Government. This order reaffirms Executive Order 13899 and directs additional measures to advance the policy thereof in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, against the people of Israel. These attacks unleashed an unprecedented wave of vile anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism, and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses. Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination; denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms; and intimidation, harassment, and physical threats and assault. A joint report by the House Committees on Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, Veterans' Affairs, and Ways and Means calls the Federal Government's failure to fight anti-Semitism and protect Jewish students “astounding.” This failure is unacceptable and ends today.
Sec. 2 . Policy. It shall be the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.
Sec. 3 . Additional Measures to Combat Campus Anti-Semitism. (a) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the head of each executive department or agency (agency) shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, identifying all civil and criminal authorities or actions within the jurisdiction of that agency, beyond those already implemented under Executive Order 13899, that might be used to curb or combat anti-Semitism, and containing an inventory and analysis of all pending administrative complaints, as of the date of the report, against or involving institutions of higher education alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism.
(b) The report submitted by the Attorney General under this section shall additionally include an inventory and an analysis of all court cases, as of the date of the report, against or involving institutions of higher education alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism and indicate whether the Attorney General intends to or has taken any action with respect to such matters, including filing statements of interest or intervention.
(c) The Attorney General is encouraged to employ appropriate civil-rights enforcement authorities, such as 18 U.S.C. 241, to combat anti-Semitism.
(d) The report submitted by the Secretary of Education under this section shall additionally include an inventory and an analysis of all Title VI complaints and administrative actions, including in K-12 education, related to anti-Semitism—pending or resolved after October 7, 2023—within the Department's Office for Civil Rights.
(e) In addition to identifying relevant authorities to curb or combat anti-Semitism generally required by this section, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with each other, shall include in their reports recommendations for familiarizing institutions of higher education with the grounds for inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3) so that such institutions may monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to those grounds and for ensuring that such reports about aliens lead, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens.
Sec. 4 . General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
