Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from banning Harvard international students

A judge has placed a temporary stay on Donald Trump’s call to cut back on the number of international students being accepted into Harvard. Follow updates.

A US District Court Judge has ordered the federal government not to make any permanent changes to Harvard University’s student visa program.

Judge Allison Burroughs issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday morning as Harvard University lawyers squared off with the Trump administration in a Boston federal courtroom over the government’s attempt to prevent the prestigious university from admitting international students.

“I want to maintain the status quo,” in allowing the school to resume accepting foreign students and visa holders, Justice Burroughs said, telling the sides to hash out an agreement to temporarily halt the freeze on Harvard’s student visa program, CNN reports.

“It doesn’t need to be draconian, but I want to make sure it’s worded in such a way that nothing changes,” she said, with Harvard’s lead lawyer Ian Gershengorn telling the judge he doesn’t want any “shenanigans” to take place once the order is set.

Graduation students pose for pictures in Harvard Yard on May 28, 2025 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. President Trump wants to cut down the number of foreign students which currently account for almost a third of the student body. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

The administration filed a legal notice giving Harvard 30 days to make its case to remain eligible to enrol foreign visa holders through the Student and Exchange Visitor’s Program.

President Trump said that the Ivy League university should reduce by half its number of international students to make Harvard “great again” – suggesting a cap of 15 per cent instead of the 27.2 per cent currently on the rolls.

“We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, [but] they can’t get in because we have foreign students there,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:

TRUMP’S ‘LIBERATION DAY’ TARIFFS BLOCKED BY FED COURT

A federal court blocked US President Donald Trump from slapping sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs on imports, ruling that he exceeded his authority.

The Court of International Trade in Manhattan stated that Congress only has the powers to sort out commerce with other countries despite Mr Trump claiming emergency powers gave him the ability to take action.

US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Picture: AP

The lawsuit was brought by the nonpartisan Liberty Justice Centre on behalf of five small businesses that get goods from countries affected by the White House’s tariff policy.

The plaintiffs argued that Mr Trump can’t use the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify the tariffs, which affected most countries across the globe.

The US President imposed the duties in an effort to make up for the United States’ massive, decades-long trade deficits.

The White House has since slammed the “unelected judges” over their decision.

“It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency,” administration spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.

“President Trump pledged to put America first, and the administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American greatness.”

US WILL ‘AGGRESSIVELY’ REVOKE VISAS OF CHINESE STUDENTS

The US will “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in America, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced, as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on foreign students enrolled at higher education institutions in the country.

Rubio announced the shock move both in a post on X, as well as a statement published titled “New Visa Policies Put America First, Not China”.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the US State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” the statement said.

The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 28, 2025

“We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”

Earlier this week, the White House temporarily suspended the processing of visas for foreign students, ordering embassies and consulates not to allow any additional student or exchange visas “until further guidance is issued”.

The State Department also said it plans to “issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applications”.

MELANIA SHOOTS DOWN BARRON RUMOUR

First lady Melania Trump shot down a viral rumour that her son Barron had applied to Harvard University and been rejected, with a spokesman calling the assertion “completely false.”

“Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false,” said Nicholas Clemens, the first lady’s communications director, the New York Post reports.

The 19-year-old’s college admissions status had been the subject of speculation on social media amid his father’s repeated verbal attacks — and cancellation of grants and other federal funds — to the Ivy League institution.

Barron Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the inauguration of Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Picture: Julia Demaree Nikhinson - Pool/Getty Images

President Trump pulled another US$100 million from Harvard, adding to roughly US$3 billion in grant and contract terminations since taking office.

The funding termination — as well as moves to boot foreign students from the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus — have drawn multiple legal challenges.

Barron Trump completed his freshman year at New York University earlier this month after graduating from Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, in spring 2024.

Barron Trump and Melania Trump attend the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the US Capitol. Picture: AFP

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HALTS ALL FOREIGN STUDENT VISAS

It comes as the Trump administration has ordered all US embassies to halt interviews for foreign student visas as it moves toward implementing mandatory social media vetting as part of the application process.

According to a leaked document obtained by Politico, US embassies around the world have been instructed to pause all new interviews for student visa applicants.

“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued (in a separate telegram), which we anticipate in the coming days,” the order signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio reads.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered all US embassies to halt interviews for foreign student visas. Picture: AP Photo/Kevin Wolf

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce did not comment directly on the document but said that “we take very seriously the process of vetting who it is that comes into the country.”

“It’s a goal, as stated by the president and Secretary Rubio, to make sure that people who are here understand what the law is, that they don’t have any criminal intent, that they are going to be contributors to the experience here, however short or long their status,” she said.

More than one million foreign students are enrolled at American universities.

Almost 4500 Australians attend higher education facilities in the United States.

Since returning to office, Donald Trump has used funding and administrative levers to exert pressure on a number of universities.

The leaked Telegram comes hours after another government document was leaked ordering federal departments to cancel contracts with Harvard.

The government is expected to write to all federal agencies today urging them to cancel all contracts, estimated to be worth $100 million USD (A$160 million), and find alternate vendors.

It comes days after the Department of Homeland Security announced it would revoke Harvard’s right to enrol international students.

President Donald Trump is engaged in a stoush with Harvard University who he has accused of anti-Semitism. Picture: AP Photo

That decision has been temporarily halted by a judge but has thrown the future of thousands of foreign students into turmoil.

That case will return to court later this week.

About 7000 international students attend Harvard including more than 100 Australians.

On Monday, Mr Trump again hit out at the institution, warning he was considering redirecting billions of dollars to other education facilities.

“I am considering taking three billion dollars of grant money away from a very anti-Semitic Harvard, and giving it to trade schools all across our land,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!”

The administration has been critical of the university and what he alleged was “woke” ideology, liberal bias and allowing antisemitism on campus.

‘SCUM’: TRUMP’S ASTONISHING MEMORIAL DAY SLEDGE

US President Donald Trump blasted out a fiery Memorial Day message first thing Monday — ripping the “scum” Biden administration for allowing scores of violent illegal migrants into the United States.

“Happy Memorial Day to all, including the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country through warped radical left minds,” he raged in a lengthy all-caps Truth Social post.

President Trump blasted the prior administration for its open border policy put in place by an “incompetent president.”

His holiday greeting also took aim at the judges who are “on a mission to keep murderers, drug dealers, rapists, gang members and released prisoners from all over the world in our country” so they can commit crimes again.

President Donald Trump participates in a Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

“All protected by these USA hating judges who suffer from an ideology that is sick and very dangerous for our country,” he said.

“Fear not, we have made great progress over the last 4 months and America will soon be safe and great again!”

President Trump paid tribute to fallen US service members and took a dig at his predecessor during a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery.

“We certainly know what we owe to them,” the US president said during his address. “Their valour gave us the freest, greatest, and most noble republic ever to exist on the face of the Earth, a republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years.”

“Who would let that happen? People pouring through our borders unchecked. People doing things that are indescribable and not for today to discuss. But the republic is now doing so very well.”

(L-R) U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth greet visitors during the Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Memorial Amphitheatre in Arlington National Cemetery. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

In between honouring departed service members, Mr Trump touted America’s 250th birthday, which will be celebrated on July 4, 2026; next year’s World Cup jointly hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico; and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

“We’re going to have a big, big celebration, as you know, 250 years,” Mr Trump, 78, said. “In some ways, I’m glad I missed that second term [by losing to Biden in 2020] where it was because I wouldn’t be your president. In addition, we have the World Cup, and we have the Olympics.”

“Can you imagine? I missed that in four years, and now look what I have — I have everything,” he continued. “God did that.”

Parts of this article originally appeared on the New York Post

Originally published as Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from banning Harvard international students