Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin’s Move to Bar Harvard Student Visa Program

🎓Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration after it banned the school’s 🛂Student visa program for not producing behavior records of foreign students who participated in protests on its campus — a move that was swiftly blocked by a federal judge Friday.

According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit was filed Friday in a federal court in Boston, with the Ivy League school saying the move 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 the lawsuit. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”

Harvard announced its intention to seek a temporary restraining order to prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from proceeding with the action. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs granted the temporary restraining order.

According to the lawsuit, the decision has caused significant disruption on campus just days before graduation. International students who contribute to research, teach classes, support faculty, and take part in university athletics now face the difficult choice of transferring schools or risking their legal status to remain in the country.