A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cutting off Harvard‘s enrolment of foreign students, an action the Ivy League school decried as unconstitutional retaliation for defying the White House’s political demands.
In its lawsuit filed earlier on Friday in federal court in Boston, Harvard University said the government’s action violates the First Amendment and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders”.
The temporary restraining order was granted by US District Judge Allison Burroughs.
Harvard‘s second case against the Trump administration came less than 24 hours after the department of homeland security said it would block international students from attending the nation’s oldest university and one of its most prestigious.
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The lawsuit, and a letter issued by Dr Alan M Garber, Harvard‘s president, signified a dramatic escalation of the battle between the administration and Harvard. The university’s forceful and almost immediate response served as evidence that stopping the flow of international students to Harvard, which draws some of the world‘s top scholars, would destabilise its very existence.
“We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,” Mr Garber said in a letter to the Harvard community. “It imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.”
The lawsuit followed an announcement on Thursday that Harvard‘s student and exchange visitor programme certification had been revoked, halting the university’s ability to enrol international students. The university indicated it would also be filing a request for a temporary restraining order asking a judge to immediately block implementation of the administration’s action.
In the lawsuit, the university accused the Trump administration of exerting “clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to control Harvard‘s governance, curriculum and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students”.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard‘s student body, international students who contribute significantly to the university and its mission,” the lawsuit said. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”
The administration said Harvard had not complied with a list of demands sent on April 16th that contained records of protest activity dating back five years, including videotapes of misconduct and records of disciplinary actions involving international students.
Harvard‘s lawsuit also said the university had been working to comply with the April 16th request.
Despite the “unprecedented nature and scope” of the demands, calling for information on each student visa holder, about 7,000 students across Harvard‘s 13 schools, within 10 business days, Harvard had submitted the required information on April 30th, the lawsuit said, and also complied with a follow-up request.
“Yet on May 22, [the department] deemed Harvard‘s response ‘insufficient,’ without explaining why or citing any regulation with which Harvard failed to comply,” the lawsuit said.
The department of homeland security and the White House did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The Trump administration has explained its attacks on Harvard and other top private universities as an effort to combat antisemitism and confront liberal biases on campus. During his campaign, Mr Trump invoked the term “Marxist maniacs” to refer to the Ivy League.
Since inauguration, Mr Trump‘s administration has sought to use nearly every lever the federal government has at its disposal to force schools, Harvard especially, to bend to its will. There are now at least eight investigations into Harvard spanning at least six federal agencies.
Separately, the Trump administration had sought to use the federal government’s international student system as a way to remove foreign nationals from the country. Immigration officials targeted a handful of pro-Palestinian student activists, but also ended the legal status of hundreds of students, creating a general anxiety among international students at colleges and universities nationwide. Most of those students have had their status restored, but a few high profile cases are being argued in the courts.
According to Harvard‘s website there are 24 Irish students currently studying there and 26 scholars registered. Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar is Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership‘s spring 2025 Hauser Leader.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times, with additional reporting from Associated Press
