Harvard, Trump Admin Clash Over International Student Enrollment

Harvard’s effort to overturn President Donald Trump’s Wednesday order barring incoming international students from entering the country to attend Harvard is unlikely to yield a quick or easy legal victory, according to more than a dozen legal experts.

The order, framed as a national security measure, cites Harvard’s alleged failure to cooperate with federal requests for information and directs the State Department to review the visa status of current international students and researchers on a case-by-case basis. Harvard swiftly challenged the proclamation in court, arguing that it is retaliatory, violates the University’s First Amendment rights, and oversteps the president’s authority.

The arguments could set up a contest between constitutional protections and the president’s expansive power to restrict entry to the United States.

Updated June 5, 2025, at 7:33 p.m.

Harvard filed an amended complaint in federal court Thursday evening, accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully retaliating against the school by barring international students from entering the United States on visas to attend Harvard.

The filing comes less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation suspending entry for foreign nationals intending to study at Harvard — a move the University alleged was designed to sidestep a judge’s temporary block on the government’s earlier attempt to strip Harvard of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.

Updated June 5, 2025, at 7:26 a.m.

United States President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Wednesday evening barring foreign students from entering the U.S. to attend Harvard, citing national security concerns and accusing the University of failing to comply with federal agencies.

The order, effective immediately, suspends entry under Harvard-hosted student and exchange visitor visas. The move follows what the Trump administration described as Harvard’s “failure” to comply with Department of Homeland Security requests for information regarding alleged criminal and disciplinary activity involving international students.

The State Department will begin reviewing the social media accounts of Harvard student visa applicants for antisemitism as part of the applicants’ vetting process, according to a cable obtained by Politico.

Consular offices will “conduct a complete screening of the online presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose,” according to the cable, which was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent on Thursday.

The policy will go into effect immediately and is part of a pilot program that “will be expanded over time.”

It was, by most appearances, a normal Commencement: bagpipes, speeches, caps flung skyward.

But for students in the crowd, the day was shaped by a courtroom battle over the fate of Harvard’s international students that played out simultaneously with the ceremony — and by Harvard’s historic, high-stakes standoff with the Trump administration.

Midway through Harvard’s 374th Commencement on Thursday, as keynote speaker and Stanford University physician Abraham Verghese delivered his address, phones buzzed across Tercentenary Theatre with breaking news: a federal judge had extended a temporary order blocking the Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard’s certification to enroll international students. The decision, though not final, brought visible relief — a ripple of applause joined the day’s more expected cheers.

As new graduates and their families left Tercentenary Theatre at the end of Commencement and turned their cellphones back on, they were met with news that a federal judge had extended a block on the Trump administration’s attempt to cut off Harvard’s ability to enroll international students.

Though many attendees had not taken in the details of the ruling, which was announced in a hearing in Boston midway through novelist Abraham Verghese’s address, they said they were glad to hear Harvard’s international students were receiving further relief.

Haroon Hyder, a Harvard School of Public Health graduate, said it was “common sense” to protect international students since they are “what makes Harvard great.”

Updated May 31, 2025, at 2:41 a.m.

BOSTON — A federal judge on Thursday upheld a block on the Trump administration’s attempt to end Harvard’s enrollment of international students while the University’s lawsuit against the federal government proceeds in court.

The order, issued as Harvard’s Class of 2025 assembled in Harvard Yard for Commencement exercises, grants a measure of relief to thousands of international students across the University whose legal status has been up in the air for weeks. The Department of Homeland Security informed Harvard last week that its foreign students must either transfer or face deportation as part of the Trump administration’s escalating campaign against the University.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday evening that the Department of Homeland Security would start to revoke Chinese students’ visas — a directive that could put more than a thousand Harvard students at risk.

According to the Harvard International Office, 1,282 students from China currently study at Harvard. More than 277,000 Chinese international students studied in the United States last year.

In a press release, Rubio wrote that the DHS would move to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”

President Donald Trump proposed slashing the proportion of international students at Harvard to 15 percent, continuing a string of recent comments criticizing the University and disparaging its student body.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Harvard’s international student population — which accounts for approximately 30 percent of Harvard’s total student body — should be capped at “maybe around 15 percent.”

“We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools; they can’t get in because we have foreign students there,” Trump said.

Harvard asked a federal judge on Wednesday to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the United States Department of Homeland Security from revoking its certification to host international students, warning of irreparable harm to the University and its affiliation.

The motion comes just days after a federal judge granted Harvard a temporary restraining order blocking the DHS from enforcing its order to strip Harvard of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.

That TRO — issued last Friday — grants only short-term relief while the court considers next steps. It will expire after a scheduled court hearing on May 29, during which the judge overseeing the case, Allison D. Burroughs, will decide whether to grant Harvard a preliminary injunction.

The Trump administration ordered United States embassies and consulates to pause scheduling interviews for student visa applicants, according to a Tuesday cable from Secretary of State Marco Rubio obtained by Politico — potentially disrupting the plans of incoming Harvard students.

The directive was issued as the administration considers whether to require all foreign students applying to study in the U.S. to undergo social media vetting, Politico reported. It instructed embassies and consulates not to add interview capacity until they receive further guidance.

If executed, the move could affect international students admitted to Harvard College’s Class of 2029, as well as other incoming students. After receiving admission to Harvard in December or March, international students apply for student visas from U.S. embassies or consulates in their home countries.

The Harvard Undergraduate Association, the College’s student government, released a statement Friday condemning the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Harvard’s ability to host foreign students.

“The Harvard Undergraduate Association stands in complete solidarity with members of our international community and strongly condemns the explicit targeting of Harvard’s international population,” the HUA wrote in a statement, which was posted on the association’s Instagram account.

The statement is the first by the newly-elected student government co-presidents, who have promised to speak out on student issues. The co-presidents, Abdullah S. Sial ’27, an international student from Pakistan, and Caleb N. Thompson ’27, have regularly spoken out against the Department of Homeland Security’s ultimatum to turn over international students’ records or face the revocation of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification.

Updated May 23, 2025, at 4:05 p.m.

A federal judge granted Harvard a temporary restraining order in its suit to block the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke its authorization to enroll international students.

The order was issued less than two hours after the University requested a halt to the Department of Homeland Security’s attempt on Thursday to end its Student Exchange and Visitor Program certification. Harvard had described the move as “unprecedented and retaliatory.”

Updated May 23, 2025, at 1:05 p.m.

Harvard sued the Trump administration Friday morning and filed a temporary restraining order shortly to stop the Department of Homeland Security from revoking its certification to enroll international students.

In the 72-page suit, Harvard accused the DHS of carrying out an “unprecedented and retaliatory” act that threatens to upend the lives of thousands of students just days before graduation. More than 7,000 students study at Harvard on a visa.

Harvard College faculty deans and departmental administrators sent messages of support for international students after the Trump administration revoked the University’s ability to enroll them — even as Harvard’s top leaders remain quiet.

“In its fight with Harvard specifically and higher education generally, the Trump administration is using international students as pawns,” Philosophy chair Bernhard Nickel wrote to his department. “International students are essential members of our community. We welcome you.”

The outpouring of support for international students — and outcry over the uncertainty caused by the Trump administration’s actions — came as Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 and his central administration has yet to issue a public statement in response to the announcement.

Current international students will need to transfer out of Harvard or risk losing their ability to remain in the United States lawfully if the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to revoke Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification remains in effect.

While it is likely that Harvard will challenge the revocation in court, the loss of SEVP certification would be catastrophic for those who rely on student visas to attend Harvard.

SEVP certification, which is issued by the DHS, authorizes colleges and universities to enroll international students on F-1 and M-1 visas — the most common type of student visas. Without the certification, institutions cannot issue the Form I-20, which serves as proof of enrollment and is necessary for visitors to maintain student status.

Updated May 22, 2025, at 3:25 p.m.

The Trump administration revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students on Thursday, dramatically escalating the administration’s fight with the University and threatening thousands of current students.

In a letter addressed to Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote that Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification was halted, “effective immediately.”

Updated April 30, 2025, at 9:34 p.m.

Harvard shared information with the Department of Homeland Security in response to its request for information on international students’ disciplinary records and illegal activity, the University announced in a Wednesday evening email to affiliates.

It was not immediately clear whether Harvard provided all the requested records. University Executive Vice President Meredith L. Weenick ’90 wrote that Harvard had responded to the DHS’ request “to provide information required by law,” but a University spokesperson declined to specify what records had been shared.

After a few brief weeks celebrating Harvard’s decision to resist the Trump administration’s federal funding conditions, more than 80 students and faculty went back to protesting the University on Tuesday, rallying against the decision to end affinity celebrations in the Science Center Plaza.

In speeches, organizers said the decision to eliminate affinity celebrations undermined Harvard’s vow of resistance, and warned that providing the Department of Homeland Security requested information about international students would be repeating the same mistake.

Harvard has until Wednesday to respond to an April 16 letter from the DHS, which threatened to revoke the University’s ability to host international students unless they share information about their protest participation and disciplinary records.

Updated April 30, 2025, at 10:31 p.m.

Harvard has taken the Trump administration to court over federal funding, but the University has given no indication about how it will respond to the Department of Homeland Security’s request for information on international students.

The DHS threatened to revoke Harvard’s ability to host international students in an April 16 letter unless the University agrees to submit information to the agency pertaining to international students’ disciplinary records and protest participation.

Outgoing College Dean Rakesh Khurana declined to say whether Harvard would provide the United States Department of Homeland Security information on international students’ disciplinary records and protest participation in a Tuesday interview with The Crimson.

The Department of Homeland Security threatened to revoke Harvard’s eligibility to host international students in a letter to University officials on April 16, unless administrators submit information about their compliance with campus policies.

“The University and the College will follow the law,” Khurana said, referring all questions about Harvard’s obligations to the Office of the General Counsel and the Harvard International Office.

Updated April 17, 2025, at 3:52 p.m.

The Department of Homeland Security sent Harvard a letter on Wednesday threatening to revoke its eligibility to enroll international students unless it submits information on international students’ disciplinary records and protest participation.

In a Wednesday press release, the DHS wrote that it had also canceled two grants worth $2.7 million to Harvard.