Harvard University is losing its student visa program after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it will be eliminating the program because of “pro-terrorist conduct” during protests on Harvard’s campus.
According to Fox News, DHS claims that Harvard has refused to give the agency the behavioral records of foreign students.
“This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “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. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
Existing foreign students have been told to transfer out of Harvard or risk losing their legal status, after Harvard was told it will no longer be able to accept foreign students in the 2025-26 academic year.
Meanwhile, the university has been given 72 hours to provide the requested records, including footage of foreign students participating in protests, if they want to regain the visa program.
“As a result of your brazen refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas rhetoric, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies, you have lost this privilege,” Noem wrote in a letter to Maureen Martin, Harvard’s director of immigration services.
According to CNBC, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal grants in April after Harvard refused to eliminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
