The US Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism said it wished to meet with the leadership of four major American cities to discuss discrimination allegations at their local schools, the Department of Justice announced.
Task force leader and Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney-General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell notified New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu that his team seeks to meet with them as well as students, law enforcement, and community members to determine if federal intervention was warranted.
“These meetings, in conjunction with our visits to university campuses around the country, are just two of the many actions [US] President [Donald] Trump and Attorney-General [Pam] Bondi are taking to end this scourge of antisemitism,” Terrell said.
Bondi said that many elected officials chose not to address rising levels of antisemitism following the October 7 Massacre.
“Actions have consequences – inaction does, too,” she said.
Last week, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 academic institutions warning them of potential enforcement actions if they did not fulfill their civil rights obligations to protect Jewish students from discrimination.
The antisemitism task force had announced on February 28 that it would visit 10 campuses regarding allegations of antisemitism. This included Columbia University, which has been both the focal point for anti-Israel protests and the Trump administration’s counter-antisemitism efforts.
On March 7, the Trump administration canceled federal grants and contracts totaling $400 million due to “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
The Department of Education sent a letter to Columbia on Wednesday informing the administration of the steps needed to restore the funding, including enforcing disciplinary policies, banning masks, adopting an antisemitism definition, and developing plans to hold student groups accountable.
Columbia interim president speaks out
Columbia interim President Katrina Armstrong addressed the government crackdown in a Saturday statement, arguing that damaging “Columbia is to weaken American ingenuity and leadership.”
“Over the last months, components of the federal government have announced investigations into our university, creating great concern across our community and the nation,” she said. “The stakes are high not only for Columbia but for every college and university in this country. Columbia finds itself yet again leading the nation, and we will do what is right.”
Armstrong continued that the institution would work to combat hate and discrimination on campus but would stand by its values of “freedom of expression, due process, and the rights of all members of this community.”
The remarks come as the Department of Homeland Security has arrested and sought to deport anti-Israel student activist Mahmoud Khalil, which supporters have argued is an assault on freedom of speech. Khalil is one of the leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has been responsible for vandalism and disruptions on campus in an attempt to pressure the administration into adopting anti-Israel policies.