A judge temporarily suspended on Friday the Trump administration’s move to block Harvard from enrolling and hosting foreign students after the prestigious university sued, calling the action unconstitutional.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign nationals, throwing the future of thousands of students and the lucrative income stream they provide into doubt.
But Harvard sued, and Massachusetts district judge Allison Burroughs ordered that “The Trump administration is hereby enjoined from implementing… the revocation of Plaintiff’s SEVP (Student and Exchange Visitor Program) certification.”
There will be an injunction hearing on May 29, a court filing showed.
The order, opens new tab provides temporary relief to thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university called a “blatant violation” of the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws, and said would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school said in its lawsuit, opens new tab filed earlier on Friday in Boston federal court. Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, equal to 27% of total enrollment.
The move was the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House, as Trump seeks to compel universities, law firms, news media, courts and other institutions that value independence from partisan politics to align with his agenda. Trump and fellow Republicans have long accused elite universities of left-wing bias.
President Donald Trump is furious at Harvard, which has produced 162 Nobel prize winners, for rejecting his demand that it submit to oversight on admissions and hiring over his claims that it is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and “woke” liberal ideology.
His administration has already threatened to put $9 billion of government funding to Harvard under review, gone on to freeze a first tranche of $2.2 billion of grants and $60 million of official contracts, as well as targeted a Harvard Medical School researcher for deportation.
“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,” said the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court.
The lawsuit called for a judge to “stop the government’s arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and unconstitutional action.”
In its complaint, Harvard said the revocation would force it to retract admissions for thousands of people, and has thrown “countless” academic programs, clinics, courses and research laboratories into disarray, just a few days before graduation. It said the revocation was a punishment for Harvard’s “perceived viewpoint,” which it called a violation of the right to free speech as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
The loss of foreign nationals — more than a quarter of its student body — could prove costly to Harvard, which charges tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition.
– ‘Unlawful and unwarranted’ –
Harvard President Alan Garber said in a statement Friday ahead of the temporary restraining order that “we condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action.
“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,” he said.
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Noem had said Thursday that “this administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.”
Chinese students make up more than a fifth of Harvard’s international enrollment, according to university figures, and Beijing said the decision will “only harm the image and international standing of the United States.”
“The Chinese side has consistently opposed the politicization of educational cooperation,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Harvard has already sued the US government over a separate raft of punitive measures.
Karl Molden, a student at Harvard from Austria, said he had applied to transfer to Oxford in Britain because he feared such measures.
“It’s scary and it’s saddening,” the 21-year-old government and classics student told AFP Thursday, calling his admission to Harvard the “greatest privilege” of his life.
Leaders of the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors called the decision “the latest in a string of nakedly authoritarian and retaliatory moves against America’s oldest institution of higher education.”