US State Dept resumes processing Harvard student visas after judge's ruling
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department directed all U.S. missions abroad and consular sections to resume processing Harvard University student and exchange visitor visas after a federal judge in Boston last week temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's ban on foreign students at the Ivy-League institution.
In a diplomatic cable sent on June 6 and signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department cited parts of the judge's decision, saying the fresh directive was "in accordance with" the temporary restraining order.
Under that order granted to Harvard late on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs blocked Trump's proclamation from taking effect pending further litigation of the matter.
Trump had cited national security concerns as justification for barring international students from entering the United States to pursue studies at Harvard.
The Trump administration has launched a multi-pronged attack on the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding and proposing to end its tax-exempt status, prompting a series of legal challenges.
Harvard argues the administration is retaliating against it for refusing to accede to demands to control the school's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the cable, the State Department added that all other guidance regarding student visas remained in effect, including enhanced social media vetting and the requirement to review the applicants' online presence.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Newshour Hundreds arrested amid unrest in Los Angeles
As protests against raids targeting illegal immigrants continue in Los Angeles, we hear the latest from the city and speak to a former director of the US border agency ICE, Ronald Vitiello. Also in the programme: the role of rare earth minerals in an apparent warming of trade relations between the US and China; and reflections of former Palestinian foreign minister Nasser al-Kidwa on finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And memories of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys band, who has died at the age of eighty-two. (Photo: Members of California National Guard speak to a man outside the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building, after days of protests against federal immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, 11 June 2025. Credit: REUTERS/David Ryder)
Sky News
27 minutes ago
- Sky News
Boos and cheers for Trump as he visits Kennedy Center for Les Mis
Les Miserables, what else. The hit musical about anti-government protest is now showing at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Donald Trump was in the audience for Wednesday's performance for what amounts to a busman's holiday. The narrative explores issues of social justice, love, and the enduring power of human compassion amidst a backdrop of poverty and revolution. Not everyone shares the president's vision of those themes. Indeed his presence drew what can only be described as mixed reviews from his fellow theatre goers - cheers and boos in equal measure as he waved from the front row of the circle. The script of Les Miserables barely presents a break from the day job - Trump won't be the only one getting a sense of art imitating life, as the real thing plays out on the streets of LA. It is the first show the president has chosen to attend since he made sweeping changes at the iconic venue, prompting an outcry and accusations that he was politicising art and 'MAGAfying' the venerated institution. According to CNN, a number of Les Miserables cast members had planned to sit out the performance in protest. The Kennedy Center is a prestigious venue that showcases the best of American performance art. More than 2,000 shows per year include the famous honours ceremony, an annual event that celebrates artists who have made a significant contribution to US culture. Honourees through the years have included Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, the Grateful Dead and Francis Ford Coppola. Following his election in November, Trump made himself chairman of the Kennedy Center's board and replaced members with political loyalists. Traditionally, the board has been made up of individuals from across the political spectrum; after his election, Trump got rid of 18 members and replaced them with political soulmates, including his chief of staff Susie Wiles and Fox presenters Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo. Donald Trump signalled a change in artistic direction at the Kennedy Center when he wrote on social media of "Drag shows specifically targeting our youth", and said of its production schedule: "We didn't like what they were showing, we're going to make sure it's good and it's not going to be woke." His changes prompted a number of acts to cancel shows at the venue in protest. The touring production of Broadway hit Hamilton cancelled dates, as did actor and producer Issa Rae, writer Louise Penny and Pulitzer Prize-winning folk musician Rhiannon Giddens. 👉 Follow Trump100 on your podcast app 👈 Trump's attendance at the Les Mis performance was designed to boost fundraising, with donors paying up to $2m to attend a reception with the president. Ticket sales and subscriptions have, reportedly, slumped since Trump's changes although the centre's management points out its campaign to renew subscriptions has been launched later this year than last. Trump watched the performance of Les Miserables from the presidential box, in the company of his wife, Melania. Vice president JD Vance was also there. When he attended a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra in March with his wife, he was booed by members of the audience.
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump administration hit with second lawsuit over restrictions on asylum access
Immigration advocates filed a class action lawsuit Wednesday over the Trump administration's use of a proclamation that effectively put an end to being able to seek asylum at ports of entry to the United States. The civil lawsuit was filed in a Southern California federal court by the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, the American Immigration Council, Democracy Forward, and the Center for Constitutional Rights. The lawsuit is asking the court to find the proclamation unlawful, set aside the policy ending asylum at ports of entry and restore access to the asylum process at ports of entry, including for those who had appointments that were canceled when President Donald Trump took office. Unlike a similar lawsuit filed in February in a Washington, D.C., federal court representing people who had already reached U.S. soil and sought asylum after crossing between ports of entry, Wednesday's lawsuit focuses on people who are not on U.S. soil and are seeking asylum at ports of entry. No response was immediately issued by the Department of Homeland Security or Customs and Border Protection, which were both among the defendants listed. Trump's sweeping proclamation issued on his first day in office changed asylum policies, effectively ending asylum at the border. The proclamation said the screening process created by Congress under the Immigration and Nationality Act 'can be wholly ineffective in the border environment' and was 'leading to the unauthorized entry of innumerable illegal aliens into the United States.' Immigrant advocates said that under the proclamation noncitizens seeking asylum at a port of entry are asked to present medical and criminal histories, a requirement for the visa process but not for migrants who are often fleeing from immediate danger. 'Nothing in the INA or any other source of law permits Defendants' actions,' the immigrant advocates wrote in their complaint. Thousands of people who sought asylum through the CBP One app, a system developed under President Joe Biden, had their appointments at ports of entry canceled on Trump's first day in office as part of the proclamation that declared an invasion at the border. 'The Trump administration has taken drastic steps to block access to the asylum process, in flagrant violation of U.S. law,' the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies stated in a news release Wednesday.
