"The crisis at Columbia University underscores the urgent need for moral clarity against antisemitism, " Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., posted on the social media platform X on Sunday night.
"College administrators should start defending their Jewish constituents and students and stop pandering to the antisemites who seek their destruction. Appeasing antisemitism never works."
Torres' comments are a response to the pro-Palestinian protests that have been going on for days at Columbia, with critics across the political spectrum slamming them, saying they are filled with hateful anti-semitism.
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee went further, posting: "Students on Columbia’s campus were shouting during protests, 'We’re all Hamas' and 'Long live Hamas.' These are not pro-Palestinian protesters. They are terrorist sympathizers."
She added: "Immediately deport all foreign students studying in the USA that support Hamas. We should also revoke federal student loans for any American student arrested for supporting Hamas."
More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Thursday on the campus after its president authorized New York police to clear an encampment set up by students demonstrating against Israel's actions in Gaza.
Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik, who a day earlier came under fire from Republicans at a House of Representatives committee hearing on antisemitism on campus, said she had authorized police to clear an encampment of dozens of tents set up by protesters on Wednesday morning.
The school's administration has since allowed the protesters to stay, setting up a tent city on the campus.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.