'Unsuitable destination': Trump bars foreign students from coming to US to study at Harvard University; what next?

Time of India

a day ago

US President Donald Trump issued a proclamation suspending international visas for new Harvard University students, as announced by the White House on Wednesday. This action represents a significant intensification of efforts to prevent foreign students from attending this prestigious institution.
The directive halts entry for new Harvard students under F, M, or J visa categories and instructs the Secretary of State to evaluate revoking existing visas for current students meeting specific criteria, according to the White House statement on Wednesday.
Citing national security concerns, the White House expressed apprehension about Harvard's foreign connections. The administration criticised the university's alleged inadequate reporting of foreign student information, noting deficiencies in data submission for three students.
The White House statement claimed Harvard either inadequately reports foreign student disciplinary records or insufficiently monitors these students. Additional criticisms included the university's handling of antisemitism and its continued emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has long warned that foreign adversaries take advantage of easy access to American higher education to steal information, exploit research and development, and spread false information, as per the White House.
"Harvard has also developed extensive entanglements with foreign adversaries, receiving more than $150 million from China alone. In exchange, Harvard has, among other things, hosted Chinese Communist Party paramilitary members and partnered with China-based individuals on research that could advance China's military modernization," the White House said in a statement.
"Harvard has failed to adequately address violent anti-Semitic incidents on campus, with many of these agitators found to be foreign students."
it added.
The President said that there are people who wants to go to Harvard but they can't get in because of foreign students. He also said that they are waiting for the foreign student lists from Harvard so that the administration can determine how many "radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all" should not be let back into the US.
'The students? Well, we want to have great students here. We just don't want students that are causing trouble.
We want to have students. I want to have foreign students. We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can't get in because we have foreign students there. But I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country," he said.
'We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country.
Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!' Trump added.
This development came after US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs's recent ruling, which indefinitely prevented the Trump administration from modifying Harvard's international student visa programme. This ruling came shortly after the judge temporarily stopped the administration's attempt to revoke the university's authority to enrol international students.