Judge allows Harvard to keep enrolling foreign students – for now

The Ivy League school is fighting the Trump administration in court.

Graduates gather as they attend commencement ceremony at Harvard on Thursday. Picture: AFP

A federal judge Thursday said she would continue to let Harvard University enrol international students for now as the school fights the Trump administration in court.

US District Judge Allison Burroughs said a temporary restraining order would remain in place and that she planned to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the government from barring international enrolment at Harvard. The Trump administration last week said it was revoking the school’s authorisation to host foreign students, the latest in a series of attacks against the Ivy League university.

Before the hearing Thursday, the Trump administration had backed off from immediately revoking Harvard’s right to enrol foreign students, instead giving the university 30 days to respond.

“The first amendment harms we are suffering are real and continuing,” Ian Heath Gershengorn, an attorney for Harvard, said in court. A few miles away on Harvard’s campus, thousands gathered for commencement.

The court hearing comes as Harvard faces a slew of punitive actions from the Trump administration, which has cited concerns about campus antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion practices that it views as discriminatory. Trump has pulled billions of dollars in federal research funds, threatened Harvard’s tax-exempt status and probed its acceptance of foreign donations.

Around a quarter of Harvard’s student population comes from abroad, with the proportion even higher in certain graduate schools. Trump on Wednesday suggested Harvard should cap its international enrolment at more like 15 per cent.

“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the university said in a lawsuit filed last Friday, which argued that the federal government illegally revoked its certification to host foreign students.

Harvard said in a Wednesday court filing that the loss of its ability to enrol international students had caused confusion, fear and mental anguish among its students and faculty.

“Many international students and scholars are reporting significant emotional distress that is affecting their mental health and making it difficult to focus on their studies,” Maureen Martin, the director of immigration services in Harvard’s International Office, said in a filing.

Dozens of current and incoming international students have questioned whether they can come to campus in the fall, Martin said, with many exploring transfer options.

The Department of Homeland Security pulled Harvard’s status May 22 after more than a month of back-and-forth over demands for information from the university. DHS had requested several broad categories of information about all of Harvard’s international students, including whether any had knowingly deprived the rights of other classmates or faculty, and whether any had left Harvard due to dangerous or violent activity.

DHS ultimately concluded Harvard didn’t turn over enough materials.

In its Wednesday letter to Harvard, included in court filings, DHS said in addition to the records lapses, Harvard failed to create a campus free from violence and antisemitism and raised national-security concerns with its ties to foreign entities.

As evidence of the national-security point, DHS points to $151 million it says Harvard has received from foreign governments since 2020 and research collaborations with China.

Wall Street Journal