Obama-Appointed Judge Allows Harvard To Continue Enrolling Foreign Students

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s effort to ban Harvard from enrolling foreign students.

Harvard sued the administration after it attempted to revoke the school’s ability to host international students due to the school’s failure to reach a resolution on combating antisemitism on campus. The preliminary injunction builds on a previous restraining order against the action that was issued immediately after Harvard filed a lawsuit against the administration.

The order was issued by U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, who allowed Harvard to racially discriminate in its admissions process prior to the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling and has since issued several injunctions against the Trump administration in support of the school.

“The Court order allows Harvard to continue enrolling international students and scholars while the case moves forward,” a university spokesman told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Harvard will continue to defend its rights—and the rights of its students and scholars.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attempted in May to revoke Harvard’s eligibility to host students on foreign visas, but Burroughs blocked the order almost instantly. President Donald Trump then signed a June 4 executive order attempting to skirt the original ruling against the DHS, which would have prevented any new international students intending to attend Harvard from entering the U.S. and directed the Secretary of State to consider revoking the visas of current foreign Harvard students. Burroughs quickly issued the temporary restraining order against the president’s action.

International students make up more than a quarter of Harvard’s student body, with 6,793 enrolled at the university in the 2024-2025 school year.

Harvard in April declined to comply with the Trump administration’s demands to reshape its vetting and admissions process for foreign students and reform its disciplinary processes. The university stated it “will not surrender” its academic freedom and free speech rights.

The administration immediately hit the university with penalties, cutting billions in federal funding from the school.

The Ivy League institution first found itself in the federal government’s crosshairs after a September 2024 congressional investigation revealed “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’s own internal investigation found that more than a quarter of Jewish students felt “physically unsafe” on campus and “Almost 60% of Jewish students reported experiencing ‘discrimination, stereotyping, or negative bias.’”

The school is also accused of failing to report foreign donations it has accepted as required by law. Harvard has reportedly brought in $1.1 billion from foreign sources since 2017 alone, including over $100 million from China and about $1.6 million from “Palestinian territories.”