
U.S. judge puts temporary hold on Trump's latest ban on Harvard's foreign students
Trump's proclamation was the latest attempt by his Republican administration to prevent the country's oldest and wealthiest college from enrolling a quarter of its students, who account for much of its research and scholarship.
It's the second time in a month Harvard's incoming foreign students have had their plans thrown into jeopardy, only to see a court intervene. Alan Wang, a 22-year-old from China who is planning to start a Harvard graduate program in August, said it has been an emotional roller coaster.
'I cannot plan my life when everything keeps going back and forth. Give me some certainty: Can I go or not?' Wang said.
Wang was born and raised in China but attended high school and college in the U.S. He's now in China for summer vacation. Recently he has been exploring options in countries with more appealing immigration policies, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Opinion: What is happening to higher education in the U.S. right now is not reform. It is destruction
Harvard filed a legal challenge on Thursday, asking for a judge to block Trump's order and calling it illegal retaliation for Harvard's rejection of White House demands. Harvard said the president was attempting an end-run around a previous court order.
A few hours later, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston issued a temporary restraining order against Trump's proclamation. Harvard, she said, had demonstrated it would sustain 'immediate and irreparable injury' before she would have an opportunity to hear from the parties in the lawsuit.
Burroughs also extended the temporary hold she placed on the administration's previous attempt to end Harvard's enrolment of international students. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard's certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork to them for their visas, only to have Burroughs block the action. Trump's order this week invoked a different legal authority.
A court hearing is scheduled for June 16 to decide if the judge will extend the block on Trump's proclamation.
Harvard grads cheer commencement speakers who urge the school to stand strong
If Trump's measure were to survive the court challenge, it would block thousands of students who are scheduled to go to Harvard's campus in Cambridge, Ma., for the summer and fall terms. It would also direct the State Department to consider revoking visas for Harvard students already in the U.S.
'Harvard's more than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders – and their dependents – have become pawns in the government's escalating campaign of retaliation,' Harvard wrote Thursday in a court filing.
While the court case proceeds, Harvard is making contingency plans so students and visiting scholars can continue their work at the university, President Alan Garber said in a message to the campus and alumni.
'Each of us is part of a truly global university community,' Garber said Thursday. 'We know that the benefits of bringing talented people together from around the world are unique and irreplaceable.'
Trump's proclamation invoked a broad law allowing the president to block 'any class of aliens' whose entry would be detrimental to U.S. interests. It's the same basis for a new travel ban blocking citizens of 12 countries and restricting access for those from seven others.
In its challenge, Harvard said Trump contradicted himself by raising security concerns about incoming Harvard students while also saying they would be welcome if they attend other U.S. universities.
'Not only does this undermine any national security claim related to the entry of these individuals, it lays bare the Proclamation's true purpose: to punish Harvard as a disfavored institution,' the school wrote.
Harvard has attracted a growing number of the brightest minds from around the world, with international enrolment growing from 11 per cent of the student body three decades ago to 26 per cent today.
Rising international enrolment has made Harvard and other elite colleges uniquely vulnerable to Trump's crackdown on foreign students. Republicans have been seeking to force overhauls of the nation's top colleges, which they see as hotbeds of 'woke' and antisemitic viewpoints.
Garber says the university has made changes to combat antisemitism. But Harvard, he said, will not stray from its 'core, legally-protected principles,' even after receiving federal ultimatums.
Trump's administration also has taken steps to withhold federal funding from Harvard since it rejected White House demands related to campus protests, admissions, hiring and more. Harvard's $53-billion endowment allows it to weather the loss of funding for a time, although Garber has warned of 'difficult decisions and sacrifices' to come.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBC
29 minutes ago
- CBC
Gaza's hunger crisis + Duty-free fears
The National takes a closer look at the rapidly deteriorating hunger crisis in Gaza and the significance of Canada's plan to recognize a Palestinian state. And family-run duty-free shops fear Trump's trade war will put them out of business.


CBC
29 minutes ago
- CBC
This is the court case that could kneecap most Trump tariffs
Most of the tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed on countries around the world face a crucial legal test on Thursday. The hearing before the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit involves a pair of lawsuits challenging the 25 per cent tariff Trump levied on imports from Canada and Mexico in March and what Trump called his "Liberation Day" tariffs, imposed on nearly every other country in April. At issue is whether Trump's justifications for the tariffs hold any legal water, given the president has limited powers to levy duties on foreign countries. Canada is watching the case closely because of its implications for the tariffs Trump imposed ostensibly to combat cross-border fentanyl trafficking — tariffs that he's threatening to raise to 35 per cent on Friday. Todd Tucker, director of industrial policy and trade at the Roosevelt Institute, a Washington think-tank, says the legal challenge to Trump's tariffs has global economic implications. "Trump is disrupting global trade relations in a way that we haven't seen since the 1930s," Tucker said in an interview with CBC News. WATCH | Carney on European Union's trade deal with U.S.: Carney says Canada is 'in a different position' than EU on trade deal with U.S. 3 days ago When asked by a reporter if Canada could see a similar trade deal with the United States as the European Union's, which includes a 15 per cent tariff, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Europe and Canada have different relationships with the U.S., particularly because the U.S. needs Canadian energy. "Some kind of favourable, even partial victory for the plaintiffs in these cases will sort of put the global economy back on a more secure footing," he said. The case, which has moved further through the courts than any other legal challenge of Trump's tariffs, brings together two related lawsuits: Five small businesses, led by a New York wine importer, challenging the Liberation Day tariffs. Twelve states, led by Oregon, challenging both the Liberation Day tariffs and the tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Both sets of plaintiffs won their case at the U.S. Court of International Trade in late May. That ruling found the president overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the statute Trump used to impose both sets of tariffs. Oral arguments take place Thursday in the Trump administration's appeal of that ruling Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel at Liberty Justice Center, a non-profit public interest litigation firm representing the five small businesses, says the case aims to rein in what he describes as presidential overreach. "The case is about whether the president has the power to unilaterally impose tariffs on any country he wants, at any rate he wants, at any time he wants, for any reason he wants," said Schwab in an interview with CBC News. "Congress ultimately has that power under our constitution, and although Congress can delegate that power to the president, they have not done so." Do tariffs 'deal with' fentanyl crisis? The IEEPA gives the president the authority to use emergency economic measures to "deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat … to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States." The Trump administration's argument — both in his executive order levying the tariffs on Canada and in its legal brief filed for the appeal — is that the flow of fentanyl across the country's northern border constitutes that "unusual and extraordinary threat." The administration claimed the tariffs "deal with" the fentanyl threat by giving the U.S. leverage to pressure Canada to address the issue. Trump's justification for the tariffs on Mexico is similar: that drug trafficking and illegal immigration across the southern border constitute an emergency, and that tariffs provide leverage to force the Mexican government to take action. But the Court of International Trade didn't buy those arguments. WATCH | Canada might not get deal on tariffs by deadline, says Trump: Trump says U.S. 'hasn't had a lot of luck with Canada' in trade talks 5 days ago 'Pretty major national significance' The court ruled that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico do not actually deal with the specific threats Trump cited. It also ruled that the "Liberation Day" tariffs were applied too broadly across the globe to be truly addressing an emergency. That ruling struck down both sets of tariffs, but almost immediately, the Trump administration requested and obtained a stay, which meant the tariffs have continued to apply. Molly Nixon, a Washington-based attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, a national public interest firm, says whichever side wins the appeal, it's very likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "This is a question of pretty major national significance," Nixon told CBC News. "I would be very surprised if the Supreme Court didn't review the case." No president before Trump has used the IEEPA to impose tariffs. His predecessors have used its powers to levy sanctions on enemy regimes, to ban transactions with groups that are deemed terrorist organizations or to freeze the assets of designated transnational criminal organizations. Small business owner 'deeply invested' in case While Canadians are predominantly interested in the case for its impact on the fentanyl tariffs, David Levi, an electrical engineer in Charlottesville, Va., is deeply invested in the "Liberation Day" side of the case. Levi owns MicroKits, a small business that designs and sells make-them-yourself gadget kits and musical instruments. His company is one of the five small-business plaintiffs pursuing the lawsuit. "The tariffs really affect me, because I have to buy parts internationally," Levi said, adding that the high tariff rates announced on Chinese imports and the uncertainty over costs disrupted his business. "My worker who actually puts all the parts together, her hours have been cut 40 per cent and in the last three or four months we've missed out on thousands of units of production," he said. WATCH | Trump press secretary reacts to court ruling on tariffs: White House accuses 'unelected judges' of interfering with Trump's tariff agenda | Power & Politics 2 months ago Appeal court ruling expected within weeks Thursday's hearing is before the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit. The case is moving through the courts at what is, for the U.S. legal system, lightning speed. Legal observers say they expect the appeal court to issue a ruling within weeks, likely by early September. That could soon be followed by the losing party petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal. The case does not address Trump's 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from around the world, which he imposed using a different statute, the president's long-established power to levy duties on imports for reasons of national security. Other Canadian exports that comply with the rules of origin in the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement are exempt from the fentanyl tariffs, which means .


Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Macao police arrest former pro-democracy lawmaker for colluding with foreign forces
HONG KONG (AP) — Police in Macao detained a man believed to be a prominent pro-democracy advocate on suspicion of colluding with outside forces in breach of the national security law. Local media outlets reported former pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam San was the suspect. A police statement Thursday said the 68-year-old Macao resident with the surname Au allegedly colluded with an anti-China group outside of the city and provided false and seditious materials for public display online or abroad. The man, whose full name was not disclosed in the statement, also was accused of maintaining long-term contact with multiple anti-China entities outside of Macao and repeatedly providing unfounded information to them or their media outlets for dissemination. 'This was intended to incite hatred against China's central government and Macao's government among Macao residents and even people from other countries who may not understand the truth,' police said. The authorities added that the acts aimed to undermine Macao's 2024 chief executive election and trigger hostile actions by foreign countries against Macao. Au was taken from his home Wednesday afternoon for investigation, they said. Local media outlets in Hong Kong and Macao reported the man was Au. Online outlet All About Macao said it was the first publicly known arrest under the national security law after the legislation was enacted in 2009 and revised in 2023. Au's wife arrived at the prosecution's office on Thursday and was listed as a 'witness,' the outlet added. The Associated Press could not reach Au by phone Thursday afternoon. Au served as a pro-democracy lawmaker in Macao's legislature dominated by Beijing loyalists before stepping down in 2021. He remained a rare voice in the city who still regularly criticized government measures and political development on Facebook and in media interviews. Since the former Portuguese colony returned to Chinese rule in 1999, Macao has grown from a monopoly-driven gambling enclave into the world's biggest gaming hub. Under Beijing's grip, its pro-democracy camp was never as influential as the one in neighboring city Hong Kong, which is a former British colony that returned to China in 1997. Its government also faced far less massive protests challenging its rule when compared to Hong Kong. More intrusive political controls were introduced to the casino hub in recent years, especially after huge anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019 that led Beijing to crack down on virtually all public dissent. A vigil commemorating China's bloody 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests was banned. Pro-democracy figures were barred from running in Macao's 2021 legislative elections. Earlier this month, an incumbent lawmaker known for his centrist stance was also disqualified from running in this year's legislative election.