Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, during an interview in New York City in 2024. Photo by Getty Images

By Benyamin Cohen April 15, 2025

As the Trump administration escalates its campaign to revoke the visas of hundreds of international students — many for their involvement in pro-Palestinian activism — Deborah Lipstadt, the Biden administration’s antisemitism envoy, is offering support for some of the moves.

“To depict some of these people as martyrs and heroes is ludicrous,” Lipstadt said in an interview, her words pointed and deliberate.

Since early this year, more than 500 students have had their visas revoked. Federal officials have cited violations of university policies, support for extremist rhetoric and concerns over antisemitism and campus safety in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel and the war in Gaza. In the majority of these cases, the government has offered no explanation for the attempted deportations. The sweeping effort, which includes investigations into 60 universities, marks one of the most aggressive federal crackdowns on campuses in recent memory.

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Lipstadt, a renowned Holocaust historian at Emory University who served as the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism until earlier this year, said she does not oppose the enforcement of visa rules or accountability for students who cross legal or institutional lines. But she warned that such measures must be carried out with restraint and fidelity to due process.

“We have laws. Apply those laws,” she said. “And if someone broke the laws, if someone lied on their visa, if someone broke a university rule that should have gotten them expelled or was expelled, then apply the rules. We’re a nation of rules.”

Her remarks place her in a carefully calibrated position — neither in full alignment with critics of the Trump administration’s policy, nor with those who have championed mass deportations as a show of zero tolerance. “I’m not opposed to the administration rescinding the student visas of some of the people that they’re rescinding the student visas of,” she said. “But I just think it should be done properly, according to the laws of the country.”

The former ambassador stressed the importance of legal integrity, especially in cases that intersect with speech and the right to protest. “I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on television,” she said. “But however the law is applied — maybe it’s different for someone with a visa, someone who has a green card, or someone who has citizenship. But I just hope that due process, the proper due process, is applied. In other words, do it properly.”

Universities, many of which face escalating public, political and financial pressures, have found themselves at the center of the storm since protests erupted on campuses after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel and subsequent war in Gaza. Since retaking office in January, President Trump and his administration have launched dozens of inquiries into allegations of antisemitic harassment and discrimination, further fueling debates over the line between political expression and hate speech.

Lipstadt, who famously triumphed in a British court against a Holocaust denier, has long advocated for vigilance against antisemitism across the political spectrum. But she has also resisted the impulse to politicize every response.

“I’m coming down right smack dab in the middle,” she said. “I’m not knee-jerk, saying, ‘Just because a new administration is doing it, it’s bad. Or I disagree.’ I disagree on other things, but I just want this to be handled carefully.”

Lipstadt also expressed support for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Republican whose hawkish stance on antisemitism has earned him bipartisan praise. He was confirmed by the Senate in January in a 99-0 vote.

“Antisemitism is a prejudice with broad, broad ramifications, and it’s got to be addressed and addressed seriously,” she said. “I happen to think that the current secretary of state is someone who has a record of taking this issue very seriously. He doesn’t equivocate.”

Rubio said on Friday that the actions of Mahmoud Khalil, a leader in the protest movement at Columbia who the government is trying to deport, did not break any criminal laws, but undermines U.S. foreign policy interests.

Lipstadt’s comments reflect the tightrope walk many in the Jewish community now face: navigating rising antisemitism on college campuses while protecting free speech and the rights of students. Lipstadt preferred precision over partisanship.

“I don’t oppose many of the things that are being done,” she said. “I just wish they would be done more deftly.”

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