Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Foreign Student Ban at Harvard

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s revocation of Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, threatening the legal status of thousands of students, after the school sued to stop the ban.

The administration’s ban is a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment and due process protections, the university said in its lawsuit. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order allowing the university to keep its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification while the legal action plays out.

“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 says.

According to the university, Harvard enrolls over 7,000 visa holders who are now thrown into turmoil over the ban. The ban comes just days before graduation.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered her department to terminate the university’s SEVP certification on Thursday, meaning that existing foreign students “must transfer or lose their legal status,” the department said in a statement.

The agency claimed that it is holding Harvard accountable for “pro-terrorist conduct,” including supposed antisemitism on campus, as well as “coordinated activity” with the Chinese Communist Party.

However, the revocation comes amid a protracted fight between the administration and the university over Trump officials’ crackdown on pro-Palestine protests. Republicans have also been fear mongering over Harvard’s supposed research ties with the Chinese government as part of the Trump administration’s fight with the university and their ongoing quest to further tensions with China.

Commentators and left-wing advocates have said that the Trump administration is clearly using its fight with Harvard as a way to force institutions to fall in line with its fascist ideologies and to crush dissent.

Indeed, Trump administration officials made this clear in a chilling letter sent to the private university on Thursday.

DHS revoked Harvard’s SEVP certification “to send a clear signal to Harvard and all universities that want to enjoy the privilege of enrolling foreign students, that the Trump Administration will enforce the law and root out the evils of anti-Americanism and antisemitism in society and campuses,” Noem wrote.

In other words, the department says it’s banning foreign students from enrollment at Harvard because it wants to send a signal that it is “root[ing] out the evils of anti-Americanism.”

Student visas are a crucial pathway for immigration the U.S., with over 1.5 million in the U.S. on academic or vocational visas in 2023. Last month, the Trump administration was forced to reinstate the records for thousands of international students whose status they changed after facing numerous losses in court challenging the records changes.

The Trump administration is also fighting a protracted battle with Harvard after it became the first Ivy League university to publicly refuse to capitulate with numerous administration demands, including giving preference to right-wing students and ideologies and rooting out pro-Palestinian sentiment within its departments.

Last month, the university filed a lawsuit after the administration revoked federal research funding to the institution. President Donald Trump also threatened to revoke the university’s tax exempt status if it didn’t comply with the administration’s demands.