Washington: Harvard University is challenging the Trump administration’s decision to bar the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students, calling it unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House’s political demands.
Harvard allege violation of first amendment
In a lawsuit filed Friday, May 23, in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government’s action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”
“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,” Harvard said in its suit. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
School to file temporary restraining order
The school said it plans to file for a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Homeland Security from carrying out the move.
The move has thrown the campus into disarray days before graduation, Harvard said in the suit. International students who run labs, teach courses, assist professors and participate in Harvard sports are now left deciding whether to transfer or risk losing legal status to stay in the country, according to the filing.
Impact on graduate schools
The impact is heaviest at graduate schools such as the Harvard Kennedy School, where almost half the student body comes from abroad, and Harvard Business School, which is about one-third international.
Along with its impact on current students, the move blocks thousands of students who were planning to come for summer and fall classes.
Harvard said it immediately puts the school at a disadvantage as it competes for the world’s top students. Even if it regains the ability to host students, “future applicants may shy away from applying out of fear of further reprisals from the government,” the suit said.
Harvard enrols over 6,000 foreign students
If the government’s action stands, Harvard said, the university would be unable to offer admission to new international students for at least the next two academic years. Schools that have that certification withdrawn by the federal government are ineligible to reapply until one year afterward, Harvard said.
The university enrols almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students and they come from more than 100 countries.
The department announced the action Thursday, accusing the university of creating an unsafe campus environment by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus. It also accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party, contending the school had hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.
Harvard President Alan Garber earlier this month said the university has made changes to its governance over the past year and a half, including a broad strategy to combat antisemitism. He said the university would not budge on its “its core, legally-protected principles” over fears of retaliation. Harvard has said it will respond at a later time to allegations first raised by House Republicans about coordination with the Chinese Communist Party.
Homeland security demands records on foreign students
The threat to Harvard’s international enrollment stems from an April 16 request from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who demanded that the university provide information about foreign students who might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation.
Noem said Harvard can regain its ability to host foreign students if it produces a trove of records on foreign students within 72 hours. Her updated request demands all records, including audio or video footage, of foreign students participating in protests or dangerous activity on campus.
The suit is separate from the university’s earlier one challenging more than USD 2 billion in federal cuts imposed by the Republican administration.
Harvard university’s ongoing stand off with Trump administration
This is not the first time Harvard University has stood off against the Trump administration.
Earlier, the federal government froze more than USD 2.2 billion in grants and contracts to university after the institution refused to comply with the administration’s demands to curb activism on campus.
The move sparked protests over the weekend from members of the Harvard community and Cambridge residents, as well as a lawsuit filed by the American Association of University Professors challenging the funding cuts.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that the Trump administration failed to follow the proper procedures under Title VI before initiating the funding cuts and notifying both the university and Congress.
(With inputs from PTI)
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