Judge Halts Trump Administration's Block On Harvard Foreign Students (UPDATE)

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Trump administration's attempt to block Harvard University from hosting international students in the President's latest political attack on the Ivy League school.

Massachusetts District Court Judge Allison Burroughs issued the ruling on Friday, May 23. The pause came just hours after Harvard announced the lawsuit over the Department of Homeland Security's decision to revoke the university's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification.

The suit claims the move was meant to punish Harvard for rejecting President Donald Trump's demands to change its curriculum and admissions policies.

"We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action," Harvard President Alan Garber wrote in a campus-wide letter. "It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams."

According to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper, Burroughs said Harvard "will sustain immediate and irreparable injury" if the DHS ban goes into effect before the university's full case is heard.

The SEVP certification allows Harvard to host students and scholars on F-1 and J-1 visas. The university in Cambridge, MA, said it enrolls more than 7,000 students on visas who have around 300 dependents.

International students at a university with a revoked SEVP certification have three choices, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They must either transfer to an SEVP-certified college, change their immigration status, or leave the US.

Harvard said DHS has blatantly violated the school's First Amendment rights.

"With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard's student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission," the lawsuit said. "Harvard's certification is essential for each of Harvard's thousands of international students to lawfully remain in this country while they complete coursework, obtain degrees, and continue critical research."

The defendants listed in the suit include Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.

Noem has accused Harvard of "an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students," along with what she calls "racist" policies about diversity, equity, and inclusion. DHS also claims Harvard has illegally coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party.

A White House spokesperson dismissed Harvard's lawsuit.

"If only Harvard cared this much about ending the scourge of anti-American, antisemitic, pro-terrorist agitators on their campus, they wouldn't be in this situation to begin with," Abigail Jackson told Reuters.

Harvard's SEVP certification was also canceled because, according to Noem, the school refused to "comply with multiple requests" to give "pertinent information" about foreign students to DHS.

"Consequences must follow to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of anti-Americanism and antisemitism in society and campuses," Noem wrote in a letter to Harvard.

The university disagrees.

Garber said Harvard has followed the law, providing DHS with legally required student information on Wednesday, April 30, two weeks after Noem's first request. After a follow-up request, the university gave more records to DHS on Wednesday, May 14.

Harvard claims DHS failed to explain what was missing before revoking the school's SEVP certification. According to the suit, Noem's demand for data on "each student visa holder" would have forced Harvard to surveil its own students.

The university also said it fulfilled its legal obligations to renew the certification.

"This demand was unprecedented, seeking information far beyond what DHS's regulations require Harvard to maintain and report, and far beyond any request Harvard has received in its more than 70 years hosting foreign students under the F-1 visa program," the suit said.

Harvard also claims the Trump administration is retaliating after the school rejected sweeping demands to reshape its academic structure, including faculty hiring, student admissions, and club membership based on political viewpoints. The President has called for Harvard to lose its tax-exempt status.

Trump has withheld more than $2.6 billion in research funding from Harvard. Burroughs is also the judge overseeing Harvard's separate lawsuit challenging Trump's funding freeze.

Harvard says Trump's actions have threatened the world-renowned work by the country's oldest college.

"Effective immediately, countless academic programs, research laboratories, clinics, and courses supported by Harvard's international students have been thrown into disarray," the suit said. "The government's actions come just days before graduation. Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard."

DHS accuses Harvard of not properly responding to what it calls attacks and intimidation against Jewish students.

"Harvard's leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment," Noem said. "Many of these agitators are foreign students."

This is the latest instance of the Trump administration claiming to "combat antisemitism" by cracking down on pro-Palestinian speech. 

Those efforts include the detainment of Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student at nearby Tufts University, who wrote an op-ed critical of her school's response to Israel's occupation of Gaza. A court ordered the Trump administration to release Öztürk from ICE custody, saying there was "no evidence" she was violent or advocated for violence.

Noem has ordered Harvard to give DHS all records it has on international students "within 72 hours" in order to have its SEVP certification restored. The request includes any audio or video of students involved in protests, creating fears that DHS will use the recordings to detain and deport foreign students.

According to the Association of International Educators, more than 1,600 student visas have been revoked by the Trump administration as of Wednesday, May 7.

"Secretary Noem's action is an unprecedented overreach and in direct violation of existing governmental policies," said Fanta Aw, the nonprofit's CEO and executive director. "International students are not bargaining chips — they are scholars, researchers, and contributors to our communities whose presence strengthens US higher education and society."

Aw also said foreign students are crucial to the country's innovation and economic growth.

“We turn global talent away at our own expense," she said. "Losing international students' contributions will negatively impact domestic students' understanding of the world and have dire consequences for the country’s economic strength, security, and global competitiveness. These outcomes run counter to the administration's stated goal of making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous."

In his letter, Garber reiterated that foreign students remain "vital members" of Harvard's community.

"You are our classmates and friends, our colleagues and mentors, our partners in the work of this great institution," he wrote. "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."

In a separate case, a California federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from terminating the legal status of international students across the US or detaining them based on their status.