Latest news with #CatchandRevoke
Axios
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Trump admin nixes Harvard's ability to enroll international students
The Trump administration pulled Harvard University's ability to enroll international students, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday. The big picture: Harvard has been at the center of the administration's war on universities over alleged antisemitism on campus and diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Driving the news: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ordered DHS to terminate Harvard's student and exchange visitor program certification, the agency said. "This means Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status," per DHS. Noem said the administration is "holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus." She said in a statement that the university lost their program certification "as a result of the failure to adhere to the law," calling it "a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country." What they're saying: Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton called the government's action unlawful. "We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard's ability to host international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the University – and this nation – immeasurably," he said in an emailed statement. He said the university is working quickly to provide guidance to the campus community. "This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission," Newton said. Context: The administration has for months been discussing plans to try to block certain colleges from having any foreign students if it decides too many are "pro-Hamas," Axios reported. The idea of prohibiting colleges from enrolling any student visa-holders grew out of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's " Catch and Revoke" program, which now is focusing on students who protested against the war in Gaza.
Axios
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Exclusive: Trump's "pro-Hamas" purge could block foreign students from colleges
The Trump administration is discussing plans to try to block certain colleges from having any foreign students if it decides too many are "pro-Hamas," senior Justice and State Department officials tell Axios. Why it matters: The effort — which could include grand jury subpoenas —marks another escalation of Trump's aggressive crackdown on immigration and antisemitism that civil libertarians say stifles campus speech and has led to several lawsuits. Zoom in: The idea of prohibiting colleges from enrolling any student visa-holders grew out of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's " Catch and Revoke" program, which now is focusing on students who protested against the war in Gaza. A senior State Department official called the demonstrators it's targeting "Hamasniks" — people the government claims have shown support for the terror group. More than 300 foreign students have had their student visas revoked in the three weeks "Catch and Revoke" has been in operation, the official said. There are 1.5 million student visa-holders nationwide. "Everyone is fair game," the official said. At the heart of the plan is the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which certifies schools to accept student visa-holders. Institutions have been decertified in the past if the government determines they have too many student-visa holders who are using the education system as a ruse to live and work in the U.S., officials say. Now, the Trump administration is threatening to apply that decertification framework to the post- Oct. 7 demonstrations on college campuses. "Every institution that has foreign students ... will go through some sort of review," the official said. "You can have so many bad apples in one place that it leads to decertification of the school ... I don't think we're at that point yet. But it is not an empty threat." Columbia University and UCLA — both of which had controversial, disruptive pro-Palestinian protests last year — are among the schools mentioned the most often by administration officials. Columbia officials couldn't be reached for comment. "UCLA is committed to eradicating hate," a spokesperson for that university said, pointing to UCLA's new Initiative to Combat Antisemitism. What they're saying: Critics accuse the administration of trampling free speech and due process rights, and of unfairly conflating support for Palestinian rights with backing Hamas, the terror group that rules Gaza. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonpartisan free-speech group, said the concept of decertifying entire universities based on who is "pro-Hamas" is "a worrying escalation." "Deemed 'pro-Hamas' by whom? This kind of explicitly viewpoint-driven decision-making is ripe for abuse and risks arbitrary enforcement," FIRE legal director Will Creeley told Axios in a statement. Zoom out: The administration's zero-tolerance immigration enforcement has provoked a spate of lawsuits, some of which are likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. That's what the administration wants: to give the high court several opportunities to expand the executive branch's power to deport a noncitizen with little judicial review. A judge Tuesday temporarily blocked federal agents from detaining Yunseo Chung, a Columbia student who participated in pro-Palestinian protests. Her lawsuit argues that immigration enforcement can't "be used as a tool to punish noncitizen speakers who express political views disfavored by the current administration." The first major case challenging Rubio's right to revoke a green card was brought this month by Mahmoud Khalil, an organizer of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia. The big picture: As the political parties realign, the GOP increasingly appeals to non-college voters and has clashed with academics and higher-education experts on cultural issues, including the Gaza war. Student visa holders are a lucrative revenue stream for colleges that can be choked off by the executive branch. "That's one of their biggest cash cows, foreign students. That's a meaningful source of revenue for them," a senior Justice Department official said. "What you're going to see in the not-too-distant future is the universities that we can show that were not doing anything to stop these demonstrations in support of Hamas — or encouraged enrollment by activists — ... we can stop approving student visas for them, and they can no longer admit foreign students," the official said. Catch up quick: The Trump administration's assault on colleges and that had significant pro-Palestine, anti-Israel or antisemitic activism spans both coasts. Last week, to escape losing $400 million in federal money, Columbia caved to administration demands to combat antisemitism and limit protests. On March 5, the DOJ's new antisemitism task force launched a civil rights investigation into the University of California system. On March 10, the Education Department sent letters to 60 universities warning them of possible civil rights enforcement actions concerning antisemitism. And on March 18, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest siding with Jewish students suing over antisemitic activity during protests at UCLA. What's next: The DOJ also is monitoring a new federal lawsuit from Columbia students accusing protest organizers of acting as a "propaganda arm" of Hamas.
