US State Department to investigate Harvard sponsorship of international student visas
The investigation comes amid heightened tension between President Donald Trump and the Ivy League university in Boston over what the Trump administration claims is anti-Israel bias.
'Visa sponsorship is a privilege, and sponsors whose conduct tarnishes our nation's interests will lose that privilege,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X on Wednesday.
The State Department said it would look into whether Harvard has complied with visa regulations that include 'transparency in reporting, and a demonstrated commitment to fostering the principles of cultural exchange and mutual understanding upon which the programme was founded'.
It is unclear exactly how or whether Harvard has violated the programme in any way.
'This investigation is yet another retaliatory step taken by the administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights,' university spokeswoman Sarah Kennedy-O'Reilly said in a statement.
'Harvard continues to enrol and sponsor international scholars, researchers and students, and will protect its international community and support them as they apply for US visas and travel to campus this [autumn]. The university is committed to continuing to comply with the applicable exchange visitor programme regulations.'
The Trump administration has cracked down on foreign students who have demonstrated in support of Palestine and has attempted to force universities to address an alleged liberal bias.
The administration and Harvard have been battling in court for months over issues including foreign students and federal funding.
'The American people have the right to expect their universities to uphold national security, comply with the law, and provide safe environments for all students,' the State Department said.
'The investigation will ensure that State Department programmes do not run contrary to our nation's interests.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Trump announces 25% tariff on India 'for buying Russian weapons and energy'
US President Donald Trump said the United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods from India, plus an additional import tax, due to India's purchasing of Russian oil and military equipment. Mr Trump said on Truth Social that India 'is our friend' but its 'tariffs are far too high' on US goods. "While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country," Mr Trump wrote. "They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!" India and Russia have close relations, and New Delhi has not supported Western sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
US to impose 25% tariff on India from August 1, Trump says
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that United States will impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from India starting on Aug. 1. "While India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Inquiry launched into ‘Hezbollah plot' to kill Netanyahu's lawyer
A French judge has ordered an investigation into a reported plot by Lebanon's Hezbollah to assassinate a lawyer linked to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Lawyer Olivier Pardo told investigators that Ruddy Terranova visited his office in Paris on July 16 and informed him of the plan. Mr Terranova, who was convicted in 2004 of violence considered to be motivated by Islamist radicalism, said he had been approached by Hezbollah during a trip to Senegal. After the meeting, the lawyer immediately filed a police report and an investigation was launched on July 28, the prosecutor's office told The National. Mr Terranova warned Mr Pardo that, while he had refused Hezbollah's offer others may have accepted the job, according to daily newspaper Le Parisien, which broke the story. Mr Pardo was reportedly targeted because he was one of Mr Netanyahu's lawyers before the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader last November. Several factors indicate Mr Terranova's statements should be carefully considered, investigators say. That he made no attempt to blackmail Mr Pardo gives extra credibility to his statement, they added. Mr Pardo, who counts a number of prominent politicians as his clients including French far-right figure Eric Zemmour, said he was "confident that the judiciary will determine whether this is a real or a phantom menace". Le Parisien said Mr Terranova, a former gang member, was taken into custody in the week beginning July 21 in connection with the case. He served as a police informant and was later suspected of involvement in a plan to kill another lawyer, Karim Achoui, in 2007. He was acquitted of that charge. Hezbollah, which operates as a political party and a paramilitary militia in Lebanon, is not known to have planned assassinations on French soil targeting prominent characters linked to Israel since the 1980s. The group was significantly weakened by an Israeli bombing campaign last year that killed most of its mid-ranking and senior leadership. It is now under significant pressure to disarm. Its close ally, Iran, is however suspected of being behind a number of killings and assassination attempts of Iranian dissidents living in Europe. A French gangster, currently in detention in the Netherlands, is suspected by authorities to have been hired by Iran last year in a failed attempt to kill an Iranian journalist in the Dutch city of Haarlem. On July 15, the European Union imposed sanctions on eight people and one entity for committing "extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions and killings, as well as enforced disappearances" of Iranian critics.
