A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Harvard University’s ability to host foreign students.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, meaning the school could not longer admit new international students and all current foreign students “must transfer or lose their legal status.” A federal district judge has now put a temporary restraining order on the action after Harvard submitted a legal complaint Friday morning.
The court order stated Harvard proved “it will sustain immediate and irreparable injury” if the action were allowed to go into motion.
The order was issued by Obama-appointed Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who previously upheld Harvard’s admissions policy that the Supreme Court eventually decided illegally discriminated on the basis of race.
The university stated “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” in an X post announcing the lawsuit. Harvard had 6,793 international students enrolled in the 2024-2025 school year, making up more than a quarter of its student body, according to the university.
“Today’s ruling delays justice and seeks to kneecap the President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II,” Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the DHS, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “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; that fact hasn’t changed. The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense to our student visa system, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us in this. We have the law, the facts, and common sense on our side.”
DHS claimed Harvard fostered a “toxic campus climate” due to allegedly allowing antisemitism to persist and submitted “inaccurate” foreign funding disclosures, but university president Alan Garber denied that the university has not been complying with the federal government’s requests to tackle the issues. Harvard’s legal complaint alleges that the action from the DHS, as well as the administration’s previous actions against the Ivy League school are retaliatory and that the government is unlawfully trying to exercise control over the university.
Harvard previously rejected the Trump administration’s demands to combat antisemitism, saying it would not “relinquish” its academic freedom and free speech rights and claiming it is managing the issues on its own. The administration immediately hit back with billions in federal funding cuts.
A Congressional investigation released in September 2024 found that “Harvard failed” to enforce meaningful punishment on nearly 70 students who were involved in a multi-day pro-Hamas encampment during the previous spring semester. Demonstrators at the school also disrupted classes and occupied a campus building.
Harvard did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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