Belgium's future queen caught up in Harvard foreign student ban
Princess Elisabeth, the 23-year-old future queen of Belgium, has just completed her first year at Harvard University but the ban imposed by Donald Trump's administration on foreign students studying there could jeopardise her continued attendance.
The US president's administration revoked Harvard's ability to enrol international students on Thursday, and is forcing current foreign students to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status in the US, while also threatening to expand the crackdown to other colleges.
'Princess Elisabeth has just completed her first year. The impact of [the Trump administration's] decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation,' said a spokesperson for the Belgian royal palace, Lore Vandoorne.
'We are analysing this at the moment and will let things settle. A lot can still happen in the coming days and weeks,' the palace's communication director, Xavier Baert, added.
Elisabeth is studying public policy at Harvard, a two-year master's degree programme that according to the university's website broadens students' perspectives and sharpens their skills for a 'successful career in public service'.
The princess is heir to the Belgian throne, as the eldest of four children born to King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. Before attending Harvard she earned a degree in history and politics from the University of Oxford in the UK.
Harvard said on Thursday the move by the Trump administration, which affects thousands of students, was illegal and amounted to retaliation.
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Gang threats in El Salvador Abrego Garcia grew up in El Salvador's capital city, San Salvador, according to court documents filed in U.S. immigration court in 2019. His father was a former police officer. His mother, Cecilia, sold pupusas, flat tortilla pouches that hold steaming blends of cheese, beans or pork. The entire family, including his two sisters and brother, ran the business from home, court records state. 'Everyone in the town knew to get their pupusas from 'Pupuseria Cecilia,'' his lawyers wrote. A local gang, Barrio 18, began extorting the family for 'rent money' and threatened to kill his brother Cesar — or force him into their gang — if they weren't paid, court documents state. The family complied but eventually sent Cesar to the U.S. Barrio 18 similarly targeted Abrego Garcia, court records state. When he was 12, the gang threatened to take him away until his father paid them. 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