Newly unsealed court documents and trial testimony have revealed that the Trump administration has heavily relied on an anonymously run pro-Israel website, accused of doxxing, to identify pro-Palestinian academics for potential deportation.The court records revealed that in order to support US President Donald Trump’s deportation drive, the Department of Homeland Security assembled a “tiger team” of intelligence who compiled data on roughly 100 foreign students and scholars involved in pro-Palestinian activism. The website, known as Canary Mission, flagged over 75 individuals.Canary Mission has stated that they did not have “contact with this administration or the previous administration,” as reported by Politico. They said that they have a mission to investigate hatred promoted against the US, Israel and Jews. “We document individuals and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews. We investigate hatred across the political spectrum, including the far-right, far-left and anti-Israel activists,” the group said. Previously, immigration lawyers as well as pro-Palestinian activists were skeptical that the Trump administration was utilizing the website to sort the names of the academics and potentially seeking to revoke their visas, with little to no independent research. But the depositions reveal how broadly the Trump administration relied on the website.Homeland security official Peter Hatch admitted that the site has been important to the Trump administration’s efforts but also stated the information taken from the website was independently verified. “Many of the names or even most of the names came from that website, but we were getting names and leads from many different websites,” Hatch said. “We received information on the same protesters from multiple sources, but Canary Mission was the most inclusive. The lists came in from all different directions.”“Canary Mission is not a part of the US government,” he said. “It is not information that we would take as an authoritative source. We don’t work with the individuals who create the website. I don’t know who creates the website,” said Hatch, as reported by Politico. Court records revealed that Trump aide Stephen Miller was heavily involved in efforts aiming to revoke the visas of pro-Palestinian academics who are studying and teaching at American colleges.
