Groups Tied to Harvard Sue DHS Over New Limits on International Student Internships

A coalition of higher education groups sued the Department of Homeland Security Monday, alleging that two August directives restricting which internships international students can take part in on student visas had caused “irreparable harm” to students and institutions.

In a 44-page filing in federal court in Massachusetts, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the DHS had engaged in “procedurally invalid” rulemaking reinterpreting the rules governing Curricular Practical Training — a program allowing international students to participate in internships and experiential learning opportunities — to allow it only for internships that every student in a degree program must complete to graduate.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which certifies schools to enroll international students, detailed the interpretation of the rule in two broadcast messages on Aug. 12 and 24. In the messages, SEVP officials framed the update as a reminder of existing policy — and warned that universities could lose their SEVP certification, which would bar them from hosting students on visas.

The Aug. 12 message also warned that improper authorizations could expose individual school officials, not just their institutions, to “administrative or legal consequences.” In Monday’s suit, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the broadcasts are “impermissibly retroactive,” exposing those officials to “criminal prosecution” for past conduct that complied with the government’s position at the time.

But in Monday’s filing, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the messages broke with more than 35 years of precedent in how the rule had been interpreted — and were an attempt to introduce new legislative rules without abiding by federal procedure governing administrative action.

Harvard has ties to all four plaintiffs in the Monday suit: the Association of American Universities, Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, NAFSA: Association of International Educators, and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts.

The University is a member of AAU, AICUM, and the Presidents’ Alliance, and staff in the Harvard International Office are NAFSA members.

Harvard is among several universities to have halted CPT authorizations following the August messages. Five of its schools — Harvard College, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, the Graduate School of Design, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences — no longer authorize CPT, and the HIO updated its website to reflect the new guidance.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, and Wellesley College are among the schools that have paused authorization of CPT applications since the messages were issued.

The complaint asks a judge to “restore” the previous interpretation, which allowed students to use CPT for internships taken for academic credit, arguing that the change had already harmed students and schools.

“Action is needed now,” the lawyers wrote. “Students have already lost critical internship and research opportunities for the current semester and institutions have had to scramble to determine how ongoing practicums, internships extended from last summer, and applications for future internships might be impacted.”

In a separate motion filed Monday night, the plaintiffs asked the court to block DHS from enforcing the new interpretation while the case proceeds.

A DHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment

The August messages come after a series of federal moves to tighten restrictions on international students. In July, DHS announced a rule that would place a fixed four-year limit on student visas and restrict students’ ability to switch programs.

Three of the plaintiffs in Monday’s complaint — the Presidents’ Alliance, NAFSA, and AICUM — are suing to block the rule. On Sept. 14, a day before the rule was set to take effect, a federal judge temporarily blocked it. The government has since appealed the ruling, and the case is ongoing.

Harvard is engaged in its own lawsuit over the Trump administration’s attempt in May 2025 to revoke its SEVP certification — a case that plaintiffs cited in their separate Monday memorandum seeking an injunction noting that a federal judge had recognized evidence that losing SEVP certification can “irreparably harm” a university.

The judge in that case blocked the revocation with a preliminary injunction in June 2025. The government filed a stipulation in August 2025, saying it would decline to enforce the May ruling.

—Staff writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at sbc.23. Follow him on X @SebastianC4784.

—Staff writer Summer E. Rose can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ser.85. Follow her on X @summerellenrose.