Exodus begins: Harvard foreign students leave as Trump ban faces court battle
WASHINGTON, May 29 — Harvard University has been flooded with requests from foreign students to transfer to other institutions as US President Donald Trump's administration seeks to ban it from hosting international scholars, a staff member said Wednesday.
'Too many international students to count have inquired about the possibility of transferring to another institution,' Maureen Martin, director of immigration services, wrote in a court filing.
Trump has upended the United States' reputation among foreign students, who number around one million, as he presses a campaign against US universities he sees as obstructing his 'Make America Great Again' populist agenda.
He has blocked Harvard from hosting international scholars in a maneuver being challenged legally, targeted non-citizen campus activists for deportation, and most recently suspended student visa processing across the board.
The president's crackdown has prompted 'profound fear, concern, and confusion' among students and staff at the elite university, which has been 'inundated with questions from current international students and scholars about their status and options', Martin wrote.
More than 27 percent of Harvard's enrollment was made up of foreign students in the 2024-25 academic year, according to university data.
'Many international students and scholars are reporting significant emotional distress that is affecting their mental health and making it difficult to focus on their studies,' Martin wrote in the filing.
Some were afraid to attend their graduation ceremonies this week or had canceled travel plans for fear of being refused re-entry into the United States, she added.
She said that a handful of domestic students at Harvard had also 'expressed serious interest' in transferring elsewhere because they did not want to attend a university with no international students.
A judge last week suspended the government's move to block Harvard from enrolling and hosting foreign students after the Ivy League school sued, calling the action unconstitutional.
A hearing into the case was scheduled for Thursday.
At least 10 foreign students or scholars at Harvard had their visa applications refused immediately after the block on foreign students was announced, including students whose visa applications had already been approved, Martin wrote.
'My current understanding is that the visa applications that were refused or revoked following the Revocation Notice have not yet been approved or reinstated,' despite a judge suspending the move, she said. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
White House says Trump, Xi will ‘likely' talk this week
Donald Trump said in April that Xi Jinping had called him, but China denied the presidents had spoken recently. (EPA Images pic) WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping will likely hold a long-awaited call later this week, the White House said today, as trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies ratchet back up. Trump reignited strains with China last week when he accused the world's second-biggest economy of violating a deal that had led both countries to temporarily reduce huge tit-for-tat tariffs. 'The two leaders will likely talk this week,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing when asked whether Trump and Xi would speak. Asked about the statement today, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry said Beijing had 'no information to provide'. Trump and Xi have yet to have any confirmed contact more than five months since the Republican returned to power, despite frequent claims by the US president that a call is imminent. Trump even said in a Time Magazine interview in April that Xi had called him – but Beijing insisted that there had been no call recently. The US leader introduced in April sweeping worldwide tariffs that targeted China most heavily of all, accusing other countries of 'ripping off' the US and running trade imbalances. Beijing and Washington last month agreed to slash staggeringly high tariffs on each other for 90 days after talks between top officials in Geneva. But Trump and other top Washington officials last week accused China of violating the deal, with commerce secretary Howard Lutnick saying Beijing was 'slow-rolling' the agreement in comments to Fox News Sunday. Beijing rejected those 'bogus' US claims yesterday, and accused Washington of introducing 'a number of discriminatory restrictive measures'. Trump has separately ramped up tensions with other trade partners, including the European Union, by vowing to double global tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50% from tomorrow.
Free Malaysia Today
2 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
US stock futures dip as investors await trade negotiations
Most megacap and growth stocks were down in premarket trade. (AP pic) NEW YORK : US stock index futures slipped today as investors awaited possible negotiations between the US and its trading partners for more clarity on the tariff war that has roiled financial markets for months. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to speak this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday, days after Trump accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. Meanwhile, the Trump administration wants countries to provide their best offer on trade negotiations by tomorrow as officials seek to accelerate talks with multiple partners ahead of a self-imposed deadline in just five weeks, according to a draft letter to negotiating partners seen by Reuters. Trump said last week he planned to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminium to 50% starting tomorrow, fuelling fresh concerns among investors and impeding global stocks' march to record highs. In May, however, a softening of Trump's harsh trade stance allowed a recovery in risky assets, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting their biggest monthly percentage gain since November 2023. The S&P 500 remains less than 4% away from its record highs touched in February. 'Market sentiment cannot find an anchor since trade policies remain fluid,' said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development revised its global growth forecast down to 2.9% for 2025, from 3.1% expected earlier, citing the effects of Trump's trade war on the US economy. Deutsche Bank, however, raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 6,550 from 6,150, citing lower tariff-related pressure on earnings and a resilient economy. At 7.22am, Dow E-minis were down 132 points, or 0.31%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 14.5 points, or 0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 26.75 points, or 0.12%. Most megacap and growth stocks were down in premarket trade. April factory orders and JOLTS job openings data are scheduled for release at 10am. US central bank officials including Fed Board Governor Lisa Cook, Chicago Fed president Austan Goolsbee and Dallas president Lorie Logan are due to speak through the day. Later in the week, monthly jobs data may offer more signs on how trade uncertainty is affecting the world's biggest economy. In stocks, Pinterest rose 3.8% after JP Morgan raised its rating to 'overweight' from 'neutral'. Constellation Energy rose 13.9% after Meta Platforms said it had struck a power agreement with the utility's nuclear plant. Dollar General rose 10.8% as the discount retailer raised its annual sales forecast after surpassing quarterly sales expectations.
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Oil edges up as geopolitical concerns and weaker dollar support
JAKARTA/SINGAPORE (Reuters): Oil edged up on Tuesday, in the face of rising geopolitical tensions as the war in Ukraine ramped up despite peace talks in Turkey and Iran was set to reject a US nuclear deal proposal that would be key to easing sanctions on the major oil producer. Crude had gained nearly 3% on Monday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, kept its July output hike at 411,000 barrels per day, the same as earlier months and less than some in the market had feared. Brent crude futures gained 45 cents, or 0.7%, to US$65.08 a barrel by 1154 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 31 cents, or 0.5%, to US$62.83. "Risk premia have filtered back into the oil price following deep Ukraine strikes on Russia over the weekend," said analyst Harry Tchilinguirian of Onyx Capital Group. "But more importantly for the barrel count, there is the to and fro between the U.S. and Iran regarding uranium enrichment." Ukraine and Russia at the weekend ramped up the war with one of the biggest drone battles of their conflict, a Russian highway bridge blown up over a passenger train and an attack on nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia. Iran, meanwhile, was poised to reject a U.S. proposal to end a decades-old nuclear dispute, an Iranian diplomat said on Monday, saying it fails to address Tehran's interests or soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment. If the nuclear talks fail, it could mean continued sanctions on Iran, which would limit Iranian supply and be supportive of oil prices. Further support came from the weak dollar. The dollar index held near six-week lows as investors weighed the outlook for U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy and its potential to hurt growth and stoke inflation. A weaker U.S. currency makes dollar-priced commodities such as oil less expensive for holders of other currencies. "Crude oil prices continue to rise, supported by the weakening dollar," said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova. Adding to supply worries, wildfires burning in Canada's province of Alberta have affected more than 344,000 barrels per day of oil sands production, or about 7% of the country's overall crude output, according to Reuters calculations. Further price support could come if forecasts of a drop in U.S. crude inventories are realised in the latest round of weekly supply reports. (Additional reporting by Michele Pek and Anjana Anil; Editing by David Evans and Susan Fenton) - Reuters
