‘The inmates run the asylum:’ DeSantis criticizes pro-Palestine protests in college campuses

Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference Monday that pro-Palestinian student protesters should be expelled from their universities, and that those who are international students should have their visas canceled.

His comments in West Palm Beach come after police arrested pro-Palestine student protesters at Ivy League schools’ Columbia and Yale universities who refused to leave their encampments at the campuses in solidarity with Gaza, according to USA Today. The president of Columbia university cited use of antisemitic language in the demonstrations as a reason for holding virtual classes on Monday, according to USA Today.

The governor referred to President Joe Biden’s stance on the protests as weak and said he would send the U.S. Department of Justice after the universities. DeSantis claimed the protesters were targeting Jewish students.

“You don’t have a right to put a target on someone’s back based on their religion or ethnicity, and if you’re doing those things, you’re going to be shown the door,” DeSantis said. “I think these students if they’re foreign students on visas, their visas should be canceled and they should be sent home. That should just happen. Second, if it’s American students, and they’re violating the code of conduct you start expelling people, and the behavior will change. Right now, in higher education, particularly in those schools up there, the inmates run the asylum.”

Last fall, Florida issued an order to its public universities, demanding that they shut down Students for Justice in Palestine chapters.

That led to a lawsuit in the state over the issues, according to the ACLU. In a summary document in the court case, the organization stated:

“Since the lawsuit was filed, Florida University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues has publicly walked back the deactivation order and acknowledged that the UF and USF chapters of SJP are fully autonomous from the national SJP organization. And university officials expressed concern about incurring personal liability if they were to enforce the deactivation order. On January 26, 2024, the court held a hearing where it cautioned that public officials’ words have consequences, and lauded UF SJP and its members for their bravery in bringing the case.

“On January 31, 2024, the court denied the UF chapter of SJP’s request for a preliminary injunction and later dismissed the case, finding that Florida officials do not intend to deactivate the Florida chapters of SJP. This outcome puts elected officials and university leaders around the country on notice that they must not take steps to enforce viewpoint-based restrictions on students’ speech and association.”