Judge blocks Trump's efforts to ban foreign students at Harvard

UPI

4 hours ago

Graduates and friends and family gather for the 2019 Harvard University Class Day. A federal judge on Friday granted a preliminary injunction that would continue blocking President Donald Trump efforts to bar international students from attending the school. File Photo by Matthew Healey/UPI | License Photo
June 20 (UPI) -- Harvard University received good news on two fronts Friday -- the courts and President Donald Trump -- in its fight with the federal government on funding and foreign students.
A federal judge in Massachusetts granted a preliminary injunction that would continue blocking Trump efforts to bar international students from attending the private university.
Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, previously had issued a temporary block halting the moves by Trump, though her decision can be appealed to the circuit court and ultimately the Supreme Court.
Shortly afterward at 3:40 p.m. EDT, Trump posted on Truth Social that a deal could be reached with the Ivy League school in Cambridge, Mass., after billions of dollars in grants were paused as the school faced accusations of anti-Semitism.
"Many people have been asking what is going on with Harvard University and their large-scale improprieties that we have been addressing, looking for a solution. We have been working closely with Harvard, and it is very possible that a Deal will be announced over the next week or so," Trump said.
"They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right. If a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be 'mindbogglingly' HISTORIC, and very good for our Country. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
Education Secretary Linda McMahon last week said: "We are, I think, making progress in some of the discussion, where even though they have taken a hard line, they have, for instance, replaced their head of Middle East Studies." Her comments came during a moderated conversation with Bloomberg in Washington, D.C.
The Education Department has frozen $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts to Harvard University after the school rejected its demands to make policy changes and "uphold federal civil rights laws." Halted were science and medicine research, including radiation exposure, ALS diagnostics and tuberculosis treatment.
Harvard sued the Trump administration in April, asking for an expedited final decision in the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for July 21. Two dozen universities filed an amicus brief in support of the school this month.
The IRS is considering revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status.
On June 4, Trump ordered a suspension of international visas for new students seeking to attend Harvard University, accusing the school of failing to report "known illegal activity" carried out by its students.
In a proclamation, Trump said the suspension applies only to new nonimmigrant students who travel to the United States solely or primarily to attend the Massachusetts university. International students are allowed to enter the country to attend U.S. schools under the Student Exchange Visa Program.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, Harvard had nearly 7,000 international students, representing about 27% of its total student body. They came from over 140 different countries. When counting researchers, the total international population at Harvard exceeds 10,000.
This is the case before Judge Burroughs.
The judge, in the three-page decision, blocked the Trump administration from ending Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which was based on a May 22 revocation notice the Department of Homeland Security sent to Harvard administrators.
Burroughs directed the government to "immediately" prepare guidance to alert Trump administration officials to disregard that notice and to restore "every visa holder and applicant to the position that individual would have been absent such Revocation Notice."
Also, student visa holders shouldn't be denied entry to the United States.
Burroughs wrote the government must "file a status report within 72 hours of entry of this Order describing the steps taken to ensure compliance with this Order and certifying compliance with its requirements."
In the May letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration was revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students in part because it had been "perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' policies."
Ian Heath Gershenger, an attorney for the university, accused the administration of "using international students as pawns" and targeting Harvard.
Justice Department attorneys instead focused on national security concerns because they do not trust Harvard to vet its international students.
An attorney for the Trump administration previously said that it does not have the same concerns in regard to other schools but that that could change.