U.S. university groups opposed the Trump administration’s deportation push against pro-Palestinian activists, as Homeland Security admitted in federal court to using a controversial website to track student protesters, media reports say.
Senior DHS investigations official Peter Hatch testified on the third day of a trial in the city of Boston that the majority of student protester names flagged for agency review were sourced from Canary Mission, NBC News reported. The anonymous organization known as Canary Mission operates a detailed online database that names students, professors and others it accuses of holding anti-Israel or antisemitic views.
Canary Mission said in an email to NBC News that it has not collaborated with the DHS, emphasizing that its database is publicly accessible.
"We have had no contact with this administration or the previous administration,” it said.
The plaintiffs in the trial, including the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the Middle East Studies Association and three other academic organizations, argue that the deportations infringed on First Amendment rights of the US Constitution.
