Kestenbaum Endorses Trump Plan to Deport Students ‘Who Violate Our Laws’ in RNC Speech

Updated July 22, 2024, at 9:56 p.m.

Shabbos “Alexander” Kestenbaum, a recent Harvard Divinity School graduate, denounced “antisemitic bigotry” at Harvard and endorsed former President Donald Trump’s plan to deport foreign pro-Palestine protesters who “violate our laws, harass our Jewish classmates, and desecrate our freedoms”during a speech at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.

Kestenbaum, who is suing Harvard for its alleged failure to address campus antisemitism, said the Harvard fosters a “culture that is anti-Western, that is anti-American, and that is antisemitic,” referring to the wave of pro-Palestine activism that has swept campus since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

“I am proud to support President Trump’s policies to expel foreign students who violate our laws, harass our Jewish classmates, and desecrate our freedoms,” Kestenbaum said.

Under current immigration laws, international students already face the revocation of their visas if they are found to have committed crimes during their stay in the U.S.

Trump’s campaign, however, has articulated a more stringent crackdown on foreign student protesters.

A post shared by Trump’s campaign on X vowed to “proactively send ICE” to what they called “pro-jihadist demonstrations” and “revoke the student visas of radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners at colleges and universities.”

Trump went even further at a private donor event in May, telling the group that he would deport “any student that protests,” according to the Washington Post.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton said that Harvard “has and will continue to be unequivocal — in our words and actions — that antisemitism is not and will not be tolerated on our campus.”

Kestenbaum’s primetime speech at the Milwaukee convention came amid a congressional investigation into antisemitism on Harvard’s campus led by House Republicans. Earlier this year, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued subpoenas to three top University leaders.

Two days before Kestenbaum’s speech, Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.) and 27 fellow Republicans sent a letter to interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 to criticize the recommendations of the University’s presidential task force on antisemitism as insufficient and weak.

On Tuesday, Stefanik boasted about her role in ending former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s presidency in a speech on the second night of the convention.

Kestenbaum, who has described himself as a former Democrat who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has found himself allied with Republicans in his fight against antisemitism and pro-Palestine activism at Harvard. In February, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hosted him for a roundtable discussion on antisemitism at colleges.

In his speech, Kestenbaum said the 1200 Israeli and American flags he planted on campus to memorialize the victims of Oct. 7 were vandalized within 24 hours.

He also claimed that students and professors at Harvard have “openly called for Hamas-style attacks against the United States.”Kestenbaum did not provide any evidence to support his claim that students and professors at Harvard have explicitly called for violence against the U.S., and pro-Palestine protests on Harvard’s campus have been largely peaceful.

In response to a request for comment, Kestenbaum pointed to the use of the term “intifada” by pro-Palestine protesters as evidence of calls for violence. Many pro-Palestine activist groups, however, have said that they use the term “intifada” to call for nonviolent liberation.

Kestenbaum has also received criticism from fellow students on campus over his rhetoric and efforts to counter protest pro-Palestine rallies.

Matthew E. Nekritz ’25 denounced Kestenbaum in a Wednesday op-ed about his appearance at the RNC.

“Kestenbaum — like many of the people he disavows — has quite literally fought hate with hate,” wrote Nekritz, a Crimson Editorial editor.

Kestenbaum said that “the far left has not only abandoned the Jewish people, but the American people.”

“Let’s elect a president who will confront terrorism and its supporters once again,” Kestenbaum said. “Let’s elect a president who recognizes that although Harvard and the Ivy Leagues have long abandoned the United States of America, the Jewish people never will, because Jewish values are American values, and American values are Jewish values.”

—Staff writer Michelle N. Amponsah can be reached at michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @mnamponsah.

—Staff writer Joyce E. Kim can be reached at joyce.kim@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @joycekim324.