EO 14188: Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism

Executive Orders

TLDR

This executive order strengthens federal response to campus anti-Semitism by requiring agencies to report enforcement capabilities and complaints since October 7, 2023, mandating DOJ case analysis, requiring Education Department Title VI review, and establishing multi-agency protocols for monitoring foreign students, all while working within existing legal frameworks.

This executive order focuses on combating anti-Semitism, particularly in educational institutions, with specific emphasis on post-October 7, 2023 incidents.

The order reaffirms Executive Order 13899 from December 11, 2019, and implements additional measures to combat anti-Semitism in response to increased incidents following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. The order specifically addresses discrimination against Jewish students in educational settings, citing incidents of harassment, facility access denial, and physical threats.

Agency Requirements

  • All executive departments must submit reports within 60 days identifying:
    • Civil and criminal authorities that could combat anti-Semitism
    • Pending administrative complaints related to campus anti-Semitism since October 7, 2023

Department-Specific Mandates

  • Department of Justice:

    • Must inventory and analyze court cases involving higher education institutions
    • Encouraged to use civil rights enforcement authorities under 18 U.S.C. 241

  • Department of Education:

    • Required to analyze Title VI complaints related to anti-Semitism in both K-12 and higher education
    • Must review both pending and resolved cases since October 7, 2023

  • Joint Department Actions:

    • State, Education, and Homeland Security departments must collaborate on:
    • Developing guidelines for universities regarding student/staff inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)
    • Creating protocols for reporting and investigating concerning activities by foreign students and staff

This order:

  • Provides concrete deadlines for agency action
  • Creates multi-agency coordination framework
  • Establishes clear reporting requirements

Potential Concerns

  • Implementation depends heavily on agency cooperation
  • Success relies on available appropriations
  • Effectiveness limited by existing legal frameworks

Notable Limitations

The order explicitly states it does not:

  • Create new enforceable rights
  • Override existing agency authorities
  • Modify current budgetary procedures

Executive Order 13899 set off a firestorm of criticism among many Jewish and Palestinian leaders. Some American Jews praised the order, while others objected to defining Judaism as a nationality (as the order was initially indicated to do, though it ultimately did not), claiming that “Trump’s reclassification of Judaism mirrored sentiments used by white nationalists and Nazi Germany” and that “the move appears to question whether Jews are really American”. Some decried the order as a political stunt, and called on Trump to more directly address the threat of white nationalism. Groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and the Orthodox Union were supportive of the order.

This executive order represents a significant shift in federal policy regarding anti-Semitism enforcement, particularly in educational settings, while working within existing legal frameworks and agency structures.

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.

© 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.

© 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.