Latest news with #SB2233
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas bill would make universities suspend, expel students on visas who support terrorism
After the Trump administration's push to deport international students who have participated in pro-Palestinian activism, the Texas Senate Education K-16 Committee faced resistance Wednesday over a proposal to encourage and require public universities to punish visa holders who engage in expression that appears to support terrorist organizations. The pro-Palestinian protests held at the University of Texas and at other college campuses across the state in April 2024 were repeatedly highlighted by those who testified in favor of Senate Bill 2233, though the proposal doesn't specifically mention those demonstrations. Trump administration officials have vowed to deport foreign-born students who were involved in the protests, and Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, issued interim legislative charges in 2024 to investigate free speech and antisemitism on college campuses. More than 260 international students in Texas have had their visas revoked or legal status changed by the federal government since Trump returned to the White House, the American-Statesman previously reported. Nationally, more than 1,000 students have had their visas revoked or legal statuses changed, not just for activism, but also with little to no reason given or for minor violations such as a parking ticket, according to media reports. More: More than 260 Texas international students had visas revoked, legal status changed SB 2233 would help enforce the Homeland Security Department's efforts, the bill's author, freshman Sen. Adam Hinojosa, R-Corpus Christi, said at the hearing Wednesday. The proposal would give universities a clear mechanism and charge to remove students and employees whom, after an investigation, are found to have supported a terrorist organization. "It's requiring the institutions to develop that policy, a clear policy, and it would be incumbent upon those institutions to let their students know and understand those policies clearly," Hinojosa said. In response to criticism casting the bill as too vague, Hinojosa said there are terrorism "definitions that are already established and well established" by the U.S. government. The federal government designated Hamas a terrorist organization in 1997, according to the U.S. State Department. More: Texas lawmakers probe universities' compliance with anti-DEI law, free speech: Our takeaways Pro-Palestinian protesters have advocated for universities to divest from weapons manufacturers contributing to Israel's bombardment of Gaza ― an area controlled by Hamas where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the conflict in response to Hamas' deadly Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attacks on Israel, which left 1,200 dead and 200 held hostage. The protesters have been painted as antisemitic and pro-terrorist by some, but those who participated in the demonstrations reject those characterizations, which they say dehumanizes their calls to stop innocent Palestinians from being killed and displaced. SB 2233 would require Texas universities to adopt a policy to suspend or expel foreign-born students on visas who participate in expression that appears to support a terrorist organization, such as Hamas, and expel them if they encourage others to do so as well, "unless it is the policy or practice of the United States to support that activity or organization." If universities appear to not comply, the attorney general can investigate and fine them up to 1% of their budget, according to the bill. Opponents worry this policy would lead universities to overcomply to avoid adverse attention. More: More than 170 international students at UT System schools have had visas revoked: officials Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, asked Hinojosa about the exemption for U.S.-supported activities, which Hinojosa said aligns with federal guidance. He also criticized the bill as too vague, saying it could punish students who join protests they do not consider to support a terrorist organization. "How can it be OK for us to support terrorist activity if it's the practice of the government?" Menendez asked. "I don't know why we would put that in state statute." More: About 150 people testify at Texas Senate hearing on SB 17, college free speech. Here's why Some rights advocates worry the bill will conflate protected criticism of a foreign entity, such as Israel, with terrorism ― something that could allow or encourage "viewpoint discrimination," said Andrew Hendrickson, testifying on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. "Simply being concerned about a conflict in another part of a country, wanting to speak out about the actions of one government or another does not necessarily mean you support the terrorist organization because you support people who live in a place where that terrorist organization has influence," Hendrickson testified. More: Analysis: UT increases limits on free speech after pro-Palestinian protests, Abbott order He also criticized Republican senators for passing a law in 2019 designating public universities as traditional public forums, including free speech that might be unpopular, but now seeking to crack down now on views that are "more with the left." "That is the heart of what viewpoint discrimination is and what the First Amendment is intended to prevent," Hendrickson said. More: Pro-Palestinian protests have happened at UT before. How are the new ones different? Brianna Terrell, a University of Texas law student, testified that her Jewish faith calls her to oppose this bill. She said the protesters did not make her feel unsafe on campus during the demonstrations last spring, but the police who responded to the rally did. She also said she opposes classifying those protesters as terrorist sympathizers. Those who stood up for Jews during the Holocaust, despite being labeled terrorists by their opponents, are considered "Yad Vashem," or "righteous among nations," she added. Terrell also said this bill was coming up during Passover, a Jewish high holiday. "I'd like to remind this panel what happened in the Holocaust. People who were not Jewish who supported the Jews in their speech, in their actions, in their protests, were often classified as terrorists and enemies of the state, and subject to prison, deportation or far worse under the Nazi regime," Terrell said. Referring to a passage from the Torah about the pharaoh's heart being hardened during the 10 plagues, she said, "I ask this panel to not let their hearts be hardened to the plight of Palestinian people and those who, like the Yad Vashem, speak out for them." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas bill would make colleges expel students on visas for certain speech
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas law students warn that bill to quash 'terrorist activity' in universities could trample free speech rights
Law school students and civil rights organizations warned senators on Wednesday that a measure that would require universities to report students accused of supporting terrorist activities to federal authorities could turn their schools into immigration enforcement agencies. More than half a dozen students from the University of Texas at Austin testified against Senate Bill 2233. The bill, authored by Sen. Adam Hinojosa, a freshman Republican from Corpus Christi, would require universities and colleges to prohibit their visa-holding students and employees from publicly supporting or persuading others to support terrorist activities related to an ongoing conflict. The bill, which took up a majority of the K-16 Education Committee's time Wednesday morning before they adjourned to the Senate floor, uses the federal government's definition of terrorist activity, which includes the highjacking or sabotaging of aircrafts, vessels or vehicles; seizing or detaining and threatening to kill, injure or continue to detain another individual in order to compel a third person, including a governmental entity, to do or abstain from doing something; a violent attack upon an internationally protected person; an assassination; or the use of any biological or chemical agent, nuclear weapon, explosive, firearm or any other dangerous device for purposes other than mere personal monetary gain. The bill does not define what would constitute as supporting terroristic activity. Under SB 2233, the universities would be required to suspend students for one year for the first violation and expel or terminate them for a second violation. Higher education institutions would also be required to report the students' and employees' suspensions, expulsions or terminations to the Department of Homeland Security and no other university or college in the state would be permitted to admit or hire them. Everyone who testified before the committee Wednesday was in opposition to the bill. Many said the bill was too vague and could be used to either punish or discourage people from expressing their political views because doing so could be conflated as support for a terrorist organization. Others said it would open the door for universities to monitor and surveil visa-holding students. Some said universities might even have an incentive to do so because the bill also puts their funding at risk. Those who testified on Wednesday, including representatives from the Texas Civil Rights Project and the American Civil Liberties Union, said SB 2233 would violate free speech rights protected under the First Amendment. They also raised concerns that it would violate the Fourth Amendment, which protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees the right to due process. UT-Austin law student Alice Min told the committee that her parents came to the U.S. from China on a student visa after participating in a protest in 1990 that culminated in the massacre at Tiananmen Square. She said they came to the U.S. because they felt they did not have a say in China's future and knew they would put themselves and their families in danger by speaking up. They are now U.S. citizens, she said. Her father is a professor and her mother works for FedEx. 'They are shocked and ashamed of the country that they have sought refuge in has become more and more like the country they have fled,' Min said. SB 2233 is one of several bills aimed at addressing protests of the Israel-Hamas war that took place on campuses across the country last year and a rise in reports of antisemitism. The protests sparked a debate over what kind of behavior is considered antisemitic and which is protected by free speech rights. State leaders have condemned the protests as inherently antisemitic while protest organizers have defended their right to criticize Israel's actions in the war. The bill comes as more than 250 international students and at least one professor in Texas have either had their visas revoked or their immigration status marked as terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS database. They have not been told the reason for the revocations or terminations, but DHS has said it is targeting those who have committed crimes and who it believes are antisemitic. Last year, Texas ranked third in the United States for the state with the most international students, with 89,546 students, according to Open Doors, an organization that conducts an annual census of international students in the country and is sponsored by the federal government. The Senate has already passed one measure related to combating antisemitism. SB 326 would require public schools to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism and its examples if a student is found to have violated the school's code of conduct and if administrators find that the violation could have been motivated by antisemitism. Some people, including Jews, have criticized the definition, saying it could lead to students being punished for protected speech that is critical of Israel. That bill was authored by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, who during Wednesday's hearing said he took offense to one witness who said during their testimony that international students are being 'kidnapped' by masked law enforcement officers across the country. Both King and Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said law enforcement sometimes need to wear masks when carrying out their duties to protect their families from retaliation. 'When you say things like that it's exceptionally offensive, particularly when you refer to them as kidnapping, because if they were kidnapping I guarantee you somebody, particularly in Travis County, would have been filing charges against them,' King said. 'They're operating either with a warrant or under some other lawful authority to make that detention or apprehension.' Creighton has a bill the committee is expected to consider later on Wednesday that in part would prohibit students from wearing masks, facial coverings, disguises or other means to conceal their identity when protesting. Creighton said he was proposing that measure to assist law enforcement in identifying students who have broken the law. SB 2233 would also allow the attorney general's office to bring suit against higher education institutions that do not comply with this law and for a court to fine them 1% of their annual budget per instance of failure to comply. The bill was left pending in committee after Democrat Sens. José Menéndez of San Antonio and Royce West of Dallas raised concerns with the bill, which also says that visa-holding students and employees would be prohibited from publicly supporting or persuading others to support terroristic activity or terrorist organizations 'unless it is the policy or practice of the United States to support that activity or organization.' 'The whole bill is problematic, but that in particular makes no sense,' Menéndez said. Kyle Zagon, a Jewish UT-Austin law student who also identified himself as a Zionist, said he has participated in debates with other students since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that have both reaffirmed his convictions and taught him to be more empathetic. 'I will remind you that we are not your convenient victims. Jewish wellbeing, our safety, it is not an excuse to infringe on the rights of others, of Americans,' Zagon said. 'To imply that our people, our very name, that means to wrestle with God, need to be protected from dissenting views, is infantilizing and opportunistic.' The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. 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