Judge halts US government move to bar foreign students at Harvard

The ruling has granted the university a temporary restraining order, a reprieve from the Trump administration’s revocation of its authorisation to enrol international students.

Demonstrators with signs stand around the John Harvard Statue in Harvard Yard. Picture: Joseph Prezioso / AFP

A federal judge temporarily blocked the government’s bid to prevent Harvard University from enrolling international students.

The judge granted the university a temporary restraining order, giving it a reprieve from the Trump administration’s revocation of its authorisation to enrol foreign students. The ruling doesn’t permanently resolve the matter but allows Harvard to continue enrolling foreign students for now.

Earlier Friday, Harvard sued the Trump administration over its move to block international student enrolment and said it was seeking a temporary restraining order to reverse the action.

The government restriction harms the school and “imperils the future of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard,” Harvard president Alan Garber wrote in a letter to the community.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said that it was yanking Harvard’s authority to enrol foreign students because it believed Harvard had failed to create a safe campus environment for students, especially Jewish ones, and alleged that many “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” on campus were foreign students.

Harvard enrols about 7000 international students – more than 25 per cent of the student body – and relies on their tuition payments, which are often full-fee. The Trump administration has already pulled billions of dollars in federal research funding from the school and threatened to revoke its tax exempt status, citing concerns about anti-Semitism and DEI.

The Ivy League school has been locked in a battle with the Trump administration since March, when the government said it was reviewing nearly $US9 billion ($14bn) in federal funding over anti-Semitism concerns. Harvard filed a federal lawsuit against the government, arguing the administration has violated the university’s constitutional rights as well as due process.

To enrol foreign students, universities must be certified by the government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows non-citizens to study in the US under student visas. The program collects and analyses information to make sure that only legitimate foreign students are allowed into the country. It also ensures that schools enrolling foreign students are following federal regulations.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard’s certification in that program. Without that, the school isn’t allowed to enrol foreign students.

The revocation came after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last month ordered Harvard to turn over records of foreign student visa holders’ “illegal and violent activities” by April 30.

In its lawsuit, Harvard said it produced the information on April 30, and on May 14 produced more information in response to a follow-up request.

Noem said Harvard’s response was insufficient, and she revoked the school’s certification in the student visa program.

Harvard said in its lawsuit Friday that the revocation is illegal.

“There is no lawful justification for the government’s unprecedented revocation of Harvard’s SEVP certification, and the government has not offered any,” Harvard argued.

A White House spokesperson objected to the judge’s blocking the government’s revocation: “These unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy.”

Dow Jones Newswires