A far-right group that argued credit for the arrest of Palestinian activists and permanent US residents who allegedly claim that the Trump administration submitted “thousands of names” for similar treatment.
Betar US is one of many right-wing pro-Israel groups that support the administration’s efforts to send international students involved in the university’s pro-Palestinian protests, and the effort that escalated this week with the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, an activist who completed his graduate studies at Columbia University.
This week, Donald Trump said Halil’s arrest was “the first of many people to come.” Betar Us quickly insisted on social media trust by providing Khalil’s name to the government.
Better, labelled as an extremist group by the Jewish advocacy group Antiformation League (ADL), said Monday that he was “working on deportation and will continue to do so,” warning that efforts will expand beyond immigration. “Hopefully naturalized citizens will start picking up within a month,” read the X group’s post. (It’s extremely difficult to revoke US citizenship, but Trump has shown his intention to try.)
The group compiled the so-called “deportation list.” It has named individuals who believe they are in the US on a visa and participated in Palestinian protests, claiming that these individuals are “terrorizing America.”
Better spokesman Daniel Levy said in a statement to the Guardian that Better has submitted “thousands of names” of students and faculty members whom he believes are on visas from facilities such as Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA and Syracuse University to representatives of Trump administrations.
The group claims there are “documents that include tapes, social media, and more” to support their actions. He claims to share names with several senior officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Stephen Miller, White House Homeland Security Advisor. Attorney General Pam Bondy and others.
The White House and the State Department did not answer questions about whether they are working with Better to identify students for deportation or with other groups.
Rosglick, who was executive director of Better’s US chapter until last month, told The Guardian that the list began to form last fall. He noted that when they began editing names it is unclear who the next president will be, but that the change in administration was unclear that it was beneficial to their initiative.
During the 2024 presidential election, Trump repeatedly vowed to deport foreign students involved in Palestinian protests on university campuses, frequently framing demonstrations against Israeli actions in Gaza as an expression of support for Hamas. Last week, it was reported that the US State Department plans to use AI to identify international students for deportation.
Last week’s arrest of Halil was in line with Trump’s executive order, which was the leading negotiator for Columbia University’s Gaza Solidarity Camp and aimed at combating anti-Semitism. The fact sheet accompanied the administration pledged to cancel student visas for those identified as “Hamas sympathizers” and deport those who participated in the “pro-jihadist protests.”
After the election, Glick said he met with Capitol Hill lawmakers, including Republican Senators Ted Cruz and James Lankford aides.
On a call this week, Glick said he had spoken with Halil and Cruz in Washington, D.C. a few days before his arrest.
Cruz’s office did not respond to requests for comment regarding the meeting with Glick.
Glick said individuals on Better’s list were identified through tips from students, faculty and staff on these campuses, along with social media research. He also claimed he received support from “collaborators” who used “face recognition AI-based technology” to help identify protesters who could identify people wearing face coverings. He refused to elaborate on the specific techniques used.
Glick said in recent months he has been flooded with messages from students, professors and university administrators across the country, all providing information on the identity of the protesters. He reviewed the validity of those hints and said he believes Halil and other pro-Palestinian protesters are “promoting the eradication, destruction and delegation of European civilization.”
Glick described Halil as a “tactic.” When asked who he was an operative for, he replied: “Well, that has to be decided.”
Halil is being held at the Louisiana Detention Center after being moved from New York. His detention is being challenged in Manhattan Federal Court.
The arrests sparked rage and vigilance from defenders of free speech, who forced Khalil and deemed a serious violation of his right to free speech, and on Wednesday hundreds protested outside a Manhattan courthouse demanding freedom.
Better is not just about trying to support Trump’s deportation campaign. This is an effort that divides American Jews, whose administration aims to act.
The video featuring Halil and others in a sit-in at Bernard against the expulsion of two students who confused Israeli classes, leading up to his arrest, began to circulate on social media.
Pro-Israel social media accounts, including Shay Dabidai, an assistant vocal professor at the Columbia business school, were temporarily banned from campus after the school said it repeatedly threatened and harassed university employees, identifying Khalil and repeatedly threatened and harassed Rubio in a post that encouraged him to be visa and expelled.
The Halil video, which was in circulation, was originally posted by the Canary Mission. The Canary Mission is an online database that publishes the names and personal information of people who consider to be anti-Israel or anti-Semitic, and focuses primarily on people from universities in the United States.
When Khalil was arrested, the Canary Mission said “we are pleased that Mahmoud Khalil’s hatred exposure led to such a deserved outcome,” adding, “There were more Colombian news along the way.”
On Monday afternoon, Canary Mission released a video that believes five other students and faculty should be expelled.
This week, it was revealed by Zeteo that Khalil had sent an email to Columbia University the day before his arrest, suing protection and informing the interim president of the university that he was exposed to the “dehumanised Doxxing Campaign” that week, led by Colombian students Davidai and David Lederer.
“Their attacks have incited waves of hatred, including my deportation and calling for death threats,” Halil said.
He added: I need urgent legal assistance and I would encourage you to step in and provide the necessary protection to prevent further harm. ”
In another email, Khalil reportedly cited a threatening post by Betar, with the group saying “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” Halil denied saying it “clearly.”
In that post, Betar wrote that Ice “knows his address and location at his home,” and “provided all his information to multiple contacts.”
After the arrest, White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt said Columbia University was given “the names of other individuals engaged in Prohama activities,” but the school “refusing to help DHS identify those individuals on campus.”
“The moment of calculation”
Halil’s arrest divides American Jews, many of whom have severed activists’ arrests.
The ADL, which explains its focus as anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred, is also known to view campus protests as anti-Semitism, welcomed the escalation and said it evaluated “the Trump administration’s extensive set of bold efforts to counter campus anti-Semitism.”
“Obviously, deportation actions or cancellations of green cards or visas must be carried out in unison with the required due process protections,” the group said. “I hope this action will serve as a deterrent to others who may consider breaking the law on university campuses and anywhere.”
However, many mainstream, progressive, left-wing Jewish groups have denounced the regime’s actions as a dangerous violation of free speech.
“It is possible, capable of, and capable of facing, dealing with, and capable of dealing with, on the anti-Semitism crisis, campus and across our community, without abandoning the basic democratic values that Jews and many others have allowed them to thrive here.”
In a letter to the US Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, several groups, including the New York Jewish Agenda, Aleph: Alliance for the Renewal of Jews, Habonim Drol North America, said they were “deeply disturbed by the circumstances surrounding Mahmoud Khalil’s anxiety and detention.”
“Regardless of what Halil’s speech is about, I firmly believe that his arrest will do nothing to make Jews safer,” the group said. “In the past, laws and policies restricting the right to free speech have often been exercised against the Jewish community. We are concerned that they are seeing signs currently being taken against Muslims, Arabs and other minority communities.”
David Myers, a well-known professor of Jewish history at the University of California, Los Angeles and chairman of Sadie and Ludwig Kern, told his guardians he believes the Trump administration is implementing and weaponizing “anti-Semitism for political interests.”
“In the end, I think (the administration) is interested in something bigger than defending Jewish students. I’m really interested in getting the university to kneel as a way to remove important liberal and progressive actors from the American political game,” he said.
Myers explained Better’s decision to compile the list of “terrifying” and deported people as “not a complete surprise,” he said.
“I think combining a list of people who have failed the political litmus test is offensive, Jewish and collaborative,” Myers said.
He believes universities should resist government pressure and support the principles of fairness and democracy.
“It’s the moment when you consider where your values really lie,” he said.
“If the university submits it, it removes a very important site of free and open thinking from the political conversations of America. I think it’s very ominous for this country. This is another step in the move towards a fully authoritarian regime.”
