The Department of Justice announced a new multi-agency task force on Monday whose “first priority” will be to “root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses,” according to an announcement by the department. 

The formation of the task force comes days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on every federal agency and department to review and report on civil and criminal actions available within their jurisdiction to fight antisemitism. 

Under the executive order, the DOJ was directed to review existing antisemitism cases and prepare to more actively bring legal action against those who commit acts of antisemitism in violation of federal civil rights laws. The order also “demands the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws,” according to a White House fact sheet. 

Other agencies involved in the new task force include the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the DOJ. 

In a statement, Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said that the department “takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred [antisemitism] wherever it is found.” 

“The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump’s renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools,” said Terrell, who will head the task force. 

Trump claimed during his 2024 campaign that, if reelected, U.S. universities that failed to address antisemitism would lose accreditation and federal support. In the weeks leading up to Trump’s return to the White House, a number of universities rushed to settle their antisemitism complaints with the Biden administration’s DOE in its final weeks.

The new administration’s focus on tackling antisemitism appears to be impacting administrators’ behavior. Over the last week, some of the universities that have been in the spotlight for slow — or nonexistent — crackdowns on antisemitism have been more responsive.

Columbia University, for example, recently suspended a student for participation in a masked demonstration in which four people barged into a History of Modern Israel class, banged on drums, chanted “free Palestine” and distributed posters to students that read “CRUSH ZIONISM” with a boot over the Star of David.  

At Chapman University, the group Students for Justice in Palestine was stripped of a Martin Luther King Jr. Community Award last week due antisemitic demonstrations, including its involvement last year in the illegal anti-Israel campus encampment movement. The award was meant to honor groups “making strides in the area of diversity, social justice and community empowerment.”