WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, America First Legal (AFL) opened a new investigation, filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Biden Administration’s Department of Education seeking answers as to why it is abandoning implementation of Executive Order 13899, and turning its back on Jewish college and university students across the country. 

In 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 13899 to address rising antisemitism, particularly on college and university campuses. That Executive Order directed the executive branch to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “against prohibited forms of discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism as vigorously as against all other forms of discrimination prohibited by Title VI.” Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave clear voice to the Trump Administration’s commitment to fighting antisemitism, strongly denouncing the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement, and unleashing the Department of Education to aggressively investigate alleged antisemitic acts by professors and administrators on college and university campuses nationwide.

However, the Biden Administration and its Secretary of Education have been silent about antisemitism on American college and university campuses. Multiple studies confirm large numbers of Jewish students report fearing physical assault, actively hiding their Jewish identity, and being penalized or singled out by their professors for practicing their faith.  Alarmingly, studies also reveal administrators, such as Campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Officers, through their support for destroying the State of Israel, directly contribute to hostile, anti-Jewish conditions on America’s campus.

AFL demands the Biden Administration answer for its inaction.  

Read the FOIA here.