Anxiety grips college students as Trump’s executive order targets Pro-Palestinian protesters
New York: Anxiety has begun to loom over college campuses as U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at combating "antisemitism," which includes pledges to deport non-citizen college students and others involved in pro-Palestinian protests.
The order promises immediate action by the Justice Department to prosecute “terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews” and marshal all federal resources to combat what it called “the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets,” as reported by The Indian Express on Friday.
For many international students, particularly those on F-1 visas, the order has raised deep concerns. A 29-year-old Indian student pursuing her Master’s at Columbia University shared her immediate reaction upon reading the news—deleting social media posts she made months earlier expressing support for Palestine.
“The executive order is against my very discipline, which encourages political engagement. I already feel like I’m being surveilled. This defeats the purpose of political thought that a university inspires,” the student pursuing Masters told IE.
Another 21-year-old Master’s student at Columbia echoed similar fears, stating, “I used to attend vigils and quietly chant in support. But now, even doing that feels risky. It would impact my future prospects.”
She told the news outlet that while she felt it was her responsibility to support the movement, the executive order made her feel that she could no longer take the risk. “My parents have invested so much in my education that I will have to stay away from all that can cause trouble,” she said.
In a chilling statement, Trump warned, “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you.” He also pledged to cancel student visas for those sympathising with Hamas, accusing college campuses of being “infested with radicalism like never before.”
Eric Lee, an immigration attorney with Diamante Law Group, laid out the sweeping implications of the order. “It violates the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech,” Lee said, adding that the order could apply to any form of speech, from classroom discussions to essays submitted in class.
“The order draws on the darkest traditions of American history. It is urgent that international civil society stand up to prevent Trump from transforming the American university system into an enforcement wing of Trump’s deportation machine,” he was quoted as saying by IE.
While protests persist at universities, the fear of retribution has left many students questioning the cost of their activism.
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ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
