Washington: It started with a reputation. Then a photograph. A quote taken out of context. Earlier than they knew it, dozens of younger folks, a lot of them college students, discovered themselves flagged, surveilled and pulled right into a silent conflict most People had by no means heard of.
Inside a Washington courtroom, the masks slipped. A Homeland Safety officer revealed what activists had lengthy whispered. That the U.S. authorities was utilizing Canary Mission, a controversial pro-Israel web site, to determine and deport scholar protesters who dared communicate out for Palestine.
Peter Hatch, an agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stood earlier than a federal decide and admitted that ICE had created a particular “tiger staff”. Its job? To comb by way of the roughly 5,000 dossiers Canary Mission had compiled on critics of Israel. Hatch mentioned many leads got here to them verbally. However sure, some started with the Canary checklist.
“You imply somebody mentioned, ‘Here’s a checklist that the Canary Mission has put collectively?’” the decide requested.
“Sure,” Hatch replied.
For activists and civil liberties advocates, that one phrase felt like an earthquake. It confirmed what had lengthy been suspected that the Trump administration was working hand in glove with an internet site many describe as a hate group. One which publishes names, pictures, affiliations and even social media posts of people it deems “anti-Israel”.
These focused typically discover the profile linked to their identify on search engines like google. For a lot of, it turns into the highest outcome. For some, it turns into the explanation they lose job gives, obtain threats or face deportation.
Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor on the Metropolis College of New York, didn’t mince phrases. “Canary Mission is a doxxing website. Its solely objective is to focus on and harass folks, largely college students, who dare to talk up for Palestinian rights. That the U.S. authorities is utilizing an internet site like that is absurd. It’s fascist,” she informed Al Jazeera.
The crackdown had already begun. After returning to workplace, Trump wasted no time. Govt orders have been signed in January laying the groundwork. One memo instructed federal officers to observe worldwide college students and employees for “anti-Semitic exercise”.
In March, Columbia graduate scholar Mahmoud Khalil turned the primary public case. A U.S. everlasting resident married to a citizen, he was out of the blue declared a nationwide safety concern. The State Division ordered him deported.
The justification? His political beliefs, particularly his opposition to Israeli insurance policies.
He was not the one one. Dozens extra have been quietly arrested. Some got a alternative – go away by yourself or keep and face indefinite detention. Some, like Khalil, are combating in courtroom.
One scholar, Rumeysa Ozturk, had no arrest document. No violent protests. No hyperlinks to extremist teams. Her “crime”? Co-authoring an op-ed in her college paper supporting a student-led divestment decision. That alone landed her on Canary Mission’s radar and later in ICE custody.
Behind this purge lies an older playbook. A doc circulated earlier than the 2024 elections, titled ‘Challenge Esther’, laid it out intimately. Drafted by the right-wing Heritage Basis, it known as for figuring out scholar visa holders and professors essential of Israel, with Canary Mission cited repeatedly. The authors believed these activists represented a risk to America’s alliance with Israel.
Andrew Ross, a professor at NYU, whereas speaking to Al Jazeera, known as the marketing campaign a “witch hunt”.
“I’m on Canary Mission. So are a lot of my colleagues. What they do is cherry-pick something they’ll twist and make it sound like anti-Semitism. The location exists to break lives,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the profiles typically cite issues as primary as sharing Amnesty Worldwide reviews. “They need to stigmatise anybody who helps Palestinian rights.”
The attain of Canary Mission extends past U.S. borders. In 2018, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli border officers used the positioning to bar entry to sure activists. That very same yr, The Ahead traced the group’s funding to an Israeli nonprofit known as Megamot Shalom.
American Jewish charities additionally reportedly funnelled cash towards it. However nobody is aware of who runs the positioning. Its authors are nameless. Its servers are personal. Its strategies are opaque.
“This isn’t just a few weblog. It’s designed for max hurt. And when governments begin utilizing it? That’s harmful,” Ross mentioned.
Canary Mission claims it doesn’t fabricate data. However critics say its design is the purpose. The search engine optimisation. The guilt-by-association. The sinister framing of atypical dissent as radicalism.
And now, the U.S. authorities is quietly turning to much more excessive corners. On the similar courtroom listening to the place Hatch admitted to utilizing Canary Mission, he hinted at one other website. When requested if it may be Betar, a militant right-wing group linked to Kahanist violence, Hatch mentioned, “That sounds proper.”
For rights teams, it’s a terrifying escalation.
“This isn’t immigration enforcement. It’s ideological cleaning,” mentioned Palestine Authorized in a press release.
Even J Road, a reasonable pro-Israel foyer, condemned the transfer. “Canary Mission is feeding the Trump agenda – weaponising antisemitism to deport scholar activists. That is about silencing dissent.”
The Division of Homeland Safety declined to remark. So did the State Division, although Secretary of State Marco Rubio has mentioned publicly, “In case you come to fire up bother, we’ll deny your visa. If you have already got one, we’ll revoke it.”
For now, the blacklists proceed to develop. The courtroom battles are ongoing. And a technology of scholars finds itself caught between a silent database and the total energy of the U.S. authorities.
They protested for Palestine. Now they’re combating for the correct to remain within the nation they as soon as known as dwelling.