Harvard University row: Federal judge blocks Trump administration’s move to ban foreign student enrollment

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s ban preventing Harvard University from enrolling international students.US District Judge Allison Burroughs issued the ruling hours after Harvard filed a lawsuit challenging the government’s decision. Harvard described the move to revoke its certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) as “clear retaliation” against the university for refusing to comply with politically motivated government demands, reports CNN.Legal battleJudge Burroughs, who is also handling a separate lawsuit against the government’s freeze on $2.65 billion in federal funding to Harvard, is now overseeing the case over the international student ban. Harvard’s latest complaint argues that the government’s removal of the university from the SEVP system is unlawful and violates procedural rules.“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” the lawsuit said.The university’s request highlighted the sudden confusion caused by the ban, saying: “Effective immediately, countless academic programs, research laboratories, clinics, and courses supported by Harvard’s F-1 and J-1 visa students have been thrown into disarray. Immediate relief is necessary.”

Impact on thousands of studentsThe Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it was revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, which effectively means the university’s international students must transfer elsewhere or risk losing their legal status.“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body,” Harvard’s lawsuit said.The university has nearly 7,000 international students from more than 140 countries. This number is nearly 27 per cent of total enrolment, including incoming and current students.Harvard president Alan Garber expressed solidarity with international students affected by the ruling: “You are our classmates and friends, our colleagues and mentors, our partners in the work of this great institution. Thanks to you, we know more and understand more, and our country and our world are more enlightened and more resilient. We will support you as we do our utmost to ensure that Harvard remains open to the world.”Government’s stanceThe Trump administration has insisted that universities enrol foreign students as a privilege, not a right, especially when they refuse to comply with new policies demanded by the White House. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “This lawsuit seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II. It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments.”DHS Secretary Kristi Noem justified the revocation by pointing to Harvard’s refusal to hand over student disciplinary records and alleged failures in complying with government requests, including demands linked to campus policies on equity, diversity, and inclusion.“Noem said she ordered her department to terminate Harvard’s SEVP certification, citing the university’s refusal to turn over the conduct records of foreign students requested by the DHS last month,” the lawsuit noted. However, Harvard counters that it did provide the requested information, but the department called its response “insufficient.”Academic backlashThe ban sparked backlash from Harvard’s academic community. Jason Furman, an economics professor and former Obama administration official, called the move “horrendous on every level.”“It is impossible to imagine Harvard without our amazing international students. They are a huge benefit to everyone here, to innovation and the United States more broadly,” Furman said. “Higher education is one of America’s great exports and a key source of our soft power. I hope this is stopped quickly before the damage gets any worse.”International students are also fearful. Karl Molden, an Austrian junior studying at Harvard, said many international students “have worked our entire lives to get to a university like Harvard” but now face uncertainty over visas and the need to possibly transfer.“This is extortion,” said Lawrence Summers, Harvard’s former president and former US Treasury Secretary. “It’s a vendetta using all the powers of the government because of a political argument with Harvard.”Wider implicationsThe Trump administration’s move against Harvard is part of a broader campaign targeting universities perceived as opposing White House policies, particularly around campus protests related to the Israel-Hamas war, anti-Semitism, and diversity programmes.Harvard is also embroiled in a separate case over the freeze of billions in federal grants and contracts, and the Internal Revenue Service has plans to challenge its tax-exempt status.Harvard’s lawsuit warns that the government’s escalating demands and penalties threaten the academic and research mission of the university and the country’s standing as a global education leader.