A division of the Department of Homeland Security created a team that was instructed to look into more than 5,000 people who were named on a doxxing website that lists purported critics of Israel on U.S. college campuses, a government official testified in federal court Wednesday.

       This is the first time a government official has detailed how far the government has gone in its efforts to crack down on pro-Palestinian protesters. In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the administration may have revoked more than 300 student visas since the start of the second Trump administration.

       As the result of a March 2025 meeting of senior officials with Homeland Security Investigations -- a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- the "Tiger Team" was created to look into student protesters on U.S. college campuses, Peter Hatch, the assistant director for the Office of Investigations within DHS, testified in Massachusetts federal court.

       Hatch said he was given the direction to look at the Canary Mission website, which had over 5,000 names, and analysts were tasked with looking into the individuals named on the website and on Betar, another Zionist website that lists the names and information of critics of Israel.

       The testimony came during Day 3 of a bench trial over the Trump administration's efforts to deport international students and scholars who express pro-Palestinian views, including Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, who were both detained by the government but have since been released.

       The lawsuit was filed by the American Association of University Professors and the Middle East Studies Association, which represents hundreds of professors and students across the country.

       Under questioning from plaintiffs' attorneys, Hatch testified that he moved analysts from the counterintelligence counterterrorism unit, cyber intelligence unit, global trade intelligence unit and others to work on the Tiger Team because of the large workload.

       Taking "months" to review the names on Canary Mission's list would not be acceptable, Hatch testified.

       "I was not given a deadline but I knew ... that we need to work through this expeditiously," Hatch said.

       Judge William Young remarked that this was a huge workload, to which Hatch responded that this was why the Tiger Team was created.

       Hatch described the three-step process the team used to investigate student protesters.

       First, the Office of Intelligence would give reports of analysis complied on students to the National Security Division. Second, the National Security Division would summarize the findings in a letter to the State Department. Third, the State Department would make its determination and could then take action -- including detaining or arresting individuals.

       Asked about the process, Hatch said, "Since 2019, I have never seen this process used. For me, it was new."

       Hatch testified that "Canary Mission wasn't the only list of students ... [but] it was the most inclusive," saying HSI also examined Betar.

       "Canary Mission is not part of the U.S. government and it is not information that we would take as an authoritative source," Hatch testified. "I did not know the Canary Mission website existed until March of this year."

       Hatch testified that HSI also received names of protesters from other sources, like individual referrals or lists from police departments of protesters who had been arrested. "We can be asked to look into any individual," as long as it goes through HSI leadership, Hatch said, which includes getting tips and leads from inside and outside the government.

       The Tiger Team received updates on whether the State Department acted on its referrals, and also had discussions with the State Department about protesters, Hatch testified.

       Asked about standard practices, he testified that HSI is often not informed about action taken by the government after it produces referrals.

       Hatch testified about the HSI senior leadership meeting in March, where he said they discussed protest activity and student protesters who may be in violation of U.S. law.

       Asked by the judge what decisions were taken as a result of the meeting, Hatch said, "To look at the protesters, to develop reports of analysis on the protesters specifically looking for violations of U.S. laws ... Anything that we relate to national security or public safety."

       Among other things, HSI was to look into whether any of the protesters were violent or incited violence, or if any of them supported terrorist organizations, he said.

       "We would use the normal report of analysis process and our normal trade craft for this," Hatch testified.

       Hatch said that HSI has produced between 100 to 200 reports of analysis on student protesters since it began looking into them. He had personally reviewed a couple dozen reports, maybe 20, "as part of this particular effort," he testified.

       In an average year, Hatch said he personally reviews about 1,000 of the 35,000 reports produced by HSI. But he testified that he could not recall any instance when he was asked to review protesters prior to 2025.

       Hatch, who has yet to be questioned by government attorneys, was scheduled to return to the stand on Thursday.