Trump bans Harvard University from recognizing new international students
A new two-page order from President Donald Trump prohibits Harvard from allowing new international students.
BOSTON – Harvard University said President Donald Trump’s move to ban foreigners seeking to enroll in the United States at Ivy League schools is illegal and asked the judge to block it immediately until further lawsuits arise.
Harvard revised an earlier lawsuit filed amid a wider dispute with the Republican president to challenge Trump’s declaration issued Wednesday.
“The declaration denys the right of thousands of Harvard students to come to this country to pursue their education and pursue their dreams, and that denys the right to teach Harvard University. Without that international student, Harvard is not Harvard,” the school submitted on June 5th.
White House spokesman Abigail Jackson described Harvard as “a breeding ground for anti-American, anti-Semitic and professional terrorist agitators.”
“Harvard’s actions risked the integrity of the US student and exchange visitor visa system and risked national security. Now we must face the consequences of that action,” Jackson said in a statement.
Trump cited national security concerns as justification for banning international students from entering the United States at Massachusetts-based universities.
The suspension was initially for six months, but can be extended. Trump’s declaration also directs the State Department to consider revoking academic or exchange visas for current Harvard students who meet the criteria for his declaration.
In a court filing on June 5, Harvard said Trump violated federal law by failing to support his claims about national security.
“The declaration does not consider the entry of foreigners or class foreigners to be harmful to US interests, as non-citizens affected by the declaration can enter the United States.
The Trump administration has launched multiple attacks on the country’s oldest and wealthiest universities, suggesting to freeze billions of dollars in grants and other funds, and end tax-free status, prompting a series of legal challenges.
Harvard argues that the administration is retaliating for refusing to respond to requests to control the school’s governance, curriculum, and its faculty and students’ ideology.
Trump’s order comes a week after U.S. District Judge Alison Burrows’ federal judge in Boston announced that he would issue a broad injunction blocking the administration from revoking Harvard’s ability to register international students, making up about a quarter of the student body.
Harvard told the court Thursday that the declaration was a “patent efforts to finalize the court’s order.”
The university sued on May 22 after Homeland Security Secretary Christie Norm announced that her department would soon revoke the certification of Harvard Student and Exchange Visitors Program.
Noem’s actions were temporarily blocked almost immediately by Burrows. On the eve of last week’s hearing, the department said it would change courses and instead challenge Harvard’s accreditation through a lengthy management process.
Nevertheless, Burrows said it plans to issue a long-term interim injunction at Harvard’s request, and is necessary to provide some protection to Harvard international students.
Wednesday’s two-page directive from Trump said Harvard “exemplified history on foreign ties and extremism,” and that he had “a widespread entanglement with foreign enemies,” including China. The directive also said Harvard “has seen a dramatic increase in crime in recent years while failing to regulate at least some categories of violations of conduct on campus,” and that “we have failed to provide sufficient information to the Department of Homeland Security regarding known illegal or dangerous activities” of foreign students.
The school filed by the court on Thursday said the claims were unfounded.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond, Steve Gorman, Daniel Wisner and Costas Pitas, edited by Caitlyn Weber, Stephen Coates and Alexia Garamfalvi)
