‘Blatant violation’ of Constitution: Harvard sues Trump administration over its move banning enrollment of foreign students
The university said that it is seeking a temporary restraining order aimed at preventing the Department of Homeland Security from implementing the decision.
Harvard University filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to stop the Ivy League school from enrolling international students.
According to the complaint filed in Boston federal court, the university called the White House’s move a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment of the US Constitution, warning it will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders.”
“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,” Harvard said in its lawsuit. “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school added.
The university said that it is seeking a temporary restraining order aimed at preventing the Department of Homeland Security from implementing the decision. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed the case, which was assigned to US District Judge Allison Burroughs.
“If only Harvard cared this much about ending the scourge of anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist agitators on their campus they wouldn't be in this situation to begin with,” Jackson said. “Harvard should spend their time and resources on creating a safe campus environment instead of filing frivolous lawsuits.”
The termination of the university’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification from academic year 2025-2026 was announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who justified the move by saying Harvard was “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
On Thursday (May 22), Noem said that Harvard could restore its certification by submitting its records on international students, including video or audio of their protests in the last five years, within 72 hours.
Harvard president condemns Trump administration’s decision
Condemning the actions of the administration, the school’s president Alan Garber said in a letter to the Harvard community, “The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government's illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body.”
The university currently enrols about 6,800 international students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts campus from over 100 countries, most of them pursuing graduate studies.
