Latest news with #JudgeAllisonBurroughs
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Judge blocks Trump ban on Harvard's international students
A U.S. federal judge said on Thursday she would extend an order blocking President Donald Trump's administration from immediately revoking Harvard University's ability to enroll international students, a victory for the Ivy League school that is entangled in multiple battles with the administration. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston announced her intention to issue a preliminary injunction, six days after she first granted Harvard a temporary order blocking the Trump administration's move. As the court hearing unfolded on Thursday morning, thousands of Harvard students were receiving their degrees at the school's commencement ceremony on campus about 8 kilometers away. University President Alan Garber, who received a standing ovation, welcomed graduating students "from down the street, across the country and around the world," drawing applause for the last words. "Around the world — just as it should be," he added. The Trump administration has launched a multifront attack on the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding, proposing to end its tax-exempt status and opening an investigation into whether it discriminated against white, Asian, male or straight employees or job applicants. Revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students would be damaging, the school says. More than a quarter of the student body is international; nearly 60% of the graduate students at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School hail from other countries. The attack on Harvard is part of the administration's broader effort to pressure higher education institutions to align with its policy agenda. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would start "aggressively" revoking visas issued to Chinese students attending U.S. schools, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and those studying in critical fields, which he did not specify. More than 275,000 Chinese students are enrolled in hundreds of U.S. colleges, providing a major source of revenue for the schools and a crucial pipeline of talent for U.S. technology companies. The decision prompted despair and frustration among students who have offers to attend next year. Prior to Rubio's announcement, the offensive against U.S. colleges had largely been confined to Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, which it has accused of left-wing bias and antisemitism. Lynn Pasquerella, president of the advocacy group American Association of Colleges and Universities, said the Trump administration's targeting of international students would have negative consequences for schools and the U.S. "Chinese students, in particular, now that they're being faced with hyper-scrutiny, are looking elsewhere," she said. "That is a huge loss for us. It's a brain drain." The court hearing before Burroughs took place shortly after the administration softened its stance in an apparent effort to refute Harvard's legal arguments in advance. Late Wednesday night, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a notice to Harvard saying it would now give the university 30 days to submit evidence contesting the administration's plan to revoke Harvard's right to enroll non-U.S. students. The notice signaled a change in course for DHS, which had said last week that the revocation was effective immediately. In its lawsuit challenging the move, Harvard argued that DHS had violated federal administrative procedure. During the court hearing, U.S. Department of Justice attorney Tiberius Davis argued there was now no need for a court order blocking the administration's actions, since Harvard could challenge them via an administrative process. But Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, said she believed a broad preliminary injunction protecting Harvard and students was necessary while that process played out. She expressed skepticism that Harvard's fate would be any different at its conclusion, saying, "Aren't we still going to end up back here at the same place?" She also questioned whether the administration had fully complied with her temporary restraining order, pointing to a declaration Harvard submitted on Wednesday that said visas for incoming students had been recently revoked. Burroughs said the temporary order would remain in effect while lawyers for both sides negotiate over the terms of the injunction. Harvard has called DHS's action part of an "unprecedented and retaliatory attack on academic freedom." The school is pursuing a separate lawsuit challenging the administration's decision to terminate nearly $3 billion in federal research funding. Harvard argues the Trump administration is retaliating against it for refusing to accede to its demands to control the school's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students. In announcing the initial decision to revoke Harvard's certification, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of "fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party." She accused the school of refusing to comply with wide-ranging requests for information on its student visa holders, including whether they engaged in any activity that was illegal, violent or subjected them to discipline. The department's move would prevent Harvard from enrolling new international students and require existing ones to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Harvard Reprieve From Foreign Student Ban Extended by Judge
Harvard University won a longer-term reprieve from a Trump administration ban on enrolling international students, handing the nation's oldest and richest university a victory in its battle with the White House. At a hearing in Boston federal court, US District Judge Allison Burroughs said Thursday she would extend a temporary pause she put in place last week. Harvard sued the administration on May 23, claiming the ban was illegal. The US maintains that Harvard has failed to comply with the terms of its certification for enrolling foreign students.
CNA
3 days ago
- General
- CNA
Harvard graduation overshadowed by Trump threats
BOSTON: Thousands of Harvard students in crimson-fringed gowns celebrated their graduation Thursday (May 29), as a judge extended a temporary block on Donald Trump's bid to prevent the prestigious university from enrolling international scholars. Trump has made Harvard the central target of his campaign against elite US universities, which he has also threatened with funding freezes over what he says is liberal bias and antisemitism. Judge Allison Burroughs said she would later issue a preliminary injunction that "gives some protection" to international students while the sides argue over the legality of Trump's stance. "Our students are terrified and we're (already) having people transfer" to other universities, Harvard's lawyer Ian Gershengorn said during the hearing in Boston. In an eleventh-hour filing ahead of the hearing, the Trump administration issued a formal notice of intent to withdraw Harvard's ability to enrol foreign students, kick-starting the process. The filing gave Harvard 30 days to produce evidence showing why it should not be blocked from hosting and enrolling foreign students, who make up 27 per cent of Harvard's student body. Burroughs had already temporarily paused the policy, extending that pause Thursday pending the new injunction. She said she would seek to determine whether the actions of Trump's officials had "a retaliatory motive." A law professor present in the packed court said the Trump administration was prolonging the suffering of students. "Harvard is in this purgatory. What is an international student to do?" said the Harvard Law School graduate, who declined to be named. "PRIDE AND APPROVAL" There also remained "this spectre of other actions" the government could take to block Harvard from having international students, she added. The Ivy League institution has continually drawn Trump's ire while publicly rejecting his administration's repeated demands to give up control of recruitment, curricula and research choices. "Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper," Trump said Wednesday. Harvard president Alan Garber got a huge cheer Thursday when he mentioned international students attending the graduation with their families, saying it was "as it should be" - but Garber did not mention the Trump fight directly. He received a standing ovation, which one student told AFP was "revealing of the community's pride and approval." Garber has led the legal fightback in US academia after Trump targeted several prestigious universities, including Columbia, which made sweeping concessions to the administration, hoping to claw back US$400 million of withdrawn federal grants. He has acknowledged that Harvard does have issues with antisemitism and that it has struggled to ensure that a variety of views can be safely heard on campus. Graduating student Uzma Farheen, from India, obtained a Master of Public Health and said the day was one of "love for the global community". "We stand united to powerfully represent what Harvard stands for - truth, integrity, and inclusion," she told AFP. Ahead of the ceremony, at which stage and screen star Rita Moreno was awarded an honorary degree, members of the Harvard band in crimson blazers filed through the narrow streets of Cambridge. In front of a huge stage, hundreds of students assembled to hear speeches, including one entirely in Latin, in a grassy precinct that was closed off to the public for security. Many students from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government carried inflatable plastic globes at the ceremony to symbolise the international makeup of the school's student body. "In the last two months it's been very difficult, I've been feeling a lot of vulnerability," said one such student, Lorena Mejia, 36, who graduated with a Master's in Public Administration and proudly wore robes identifying her as a Colombian.
Arab News
3 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Federal judge extends order blocking Trump administration ban on foreign students at Harvard
BOSTON: A federal judge on Thursday extended an order blocking the Trump administration's attempt to bar Harvard University from enrolling foreign students. US District Judge Allison Burroughs extended the block she imposed last week with a temporary restraining order, which allows the Ivy League school to continue enrolling international students as a lawsuit proceeds. Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security on Friday after Secretary Kristi Noem revoked its ability to host foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 'Harvard will continue to take steps to protect the rights of our international students and scholars, members of our community who are vital to the University's academic mission and community — and whose presence here benefits our country immeasurably,' a university spokesman said in a statement. On Wednesday, the Trump administration introduced a new effort to revoke Harvard's certification to enroll foreign students. In a letter sent by the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, Todd Lyons, the government gave Harvard 30 days to respond to the alleged grounds for withdrawal, which include accusations that Harvard coordinated with foreign entities and failed to respond sufficiently to antisemitism on campus. The developments unfolded in a courtroom not far from the Harvard campus, where speakers at Thursday's commencement ceremony stressed the importance of maintaining a diverse and international student body. The dispute over international enrollment at Harvard is the latest escalation in a battle between the White House and the nation's oldest and wealthiest college. In April, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent a letter to the school, demanding a range of records related to foreign students, including discipline records and anything related to 'dangerous or violent activity.' Noem said it was in response to accusations of antisemitism on Harvard's campus. Harvard says it complied. But on May 22, Noem sent a letter saying the school's response fell short. She said Harvard was being pulled from the federal program that allows colleges to sponsor international students to get US visas. It took effect immediately and prevented Harvard from hosting foreign students in the upcoming school year. In its lawsuit, Harvard argued the government failed to follow administrative procedures and regulations for removing schools from eligibility to host international students, which include giving schools the opportunity to appeal and a 30-day window to respond. Noem's earlier letter to Harvard notified the school that its eligibility was revoked immediately. It did not cite any regulations or statutes that Harvard allegedly violated. The Wednesday letter accuses Harvard of violating regulations around reporting requirements and violating an executive order regarding combatting antisemitism. Already, despite the restraining order, the Trump administration's efforts to stop Harvard from enrolling international students have created an environment of 'profound fear, concern, and confusion,' the university's director of immigration services said in a court filing on Wednesday. In a court filing, immigration services director Maureen Martin said that countless international students had asked about transferring. Martin said that international Harvard students arriving in Boston were sent to additional screening by Customs and Border Protection agents, and that international students seeking to obtain their visas were being denied or facing delays at consulates and embassies. More than 7,000 international students, exchange scholars and alumni participating in a post-graduate career training period rely on Harvard for their sponsorship and legal status in the United States. The sanction, if allowed to proceed, could upend some graduate schools that draw heavily from abroad. Among those at risk was Belgium's Princess Elisabeth, who just finished her first year in a Harvard graduate program. Trump railed against Harvard on social media after Burroughs temporarily halted the action last week, saying 'the best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) — But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!' The Trump administration has levied a range of grievances against Harvard, accusing it of being a hotbed of liberalism and failing to protect Jewish students from harassment. The government is demanding changes to Harvard's governance and policies to bring it in line with the president's vision. Harvard was the first university to reject the government's demands, saying it threatened the autonomy that has long made US higher education a magnet for the world's top scholars. In a pair of lawsuits, Harvard accuses the government of retaliating against the university for rebuffing political demands.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Judge issues injunction over Trump plan to limit Harvard enrolments
A US judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University's ability to enrol international students. The ruling is the latest twist in the US president's pressure campaign against Harvard, which has included him ordering the withdrawal of billions of US dollars in federal funding. The temporary injunction came as lawyers for the federal government backed away from plans to immediately revoke the Ivy League university's ability to enrol international students for at least a month. Instead, the administration will give the college 30 days to contest its plans through a lengthier administrative process. The US Department of Homeland Security sent Harvard a notice of intent on Wednesday to withdraw the school's certification under a federal program to enrol non-US students. Citing the potential for Harvard and its students to be harmed if the administration reverted to its earlier plans, US District Judge Allison Burroughs at that hearing said she planned to issue a broad preliminary injunction preserving the status quo while the newly announced administrative process plays out. Harvard's lawyers have argued that the revocation violated its free speech and due process rights under the US Constitution. In addition, Harvard contended that the revocation failed to comply with Department of Homeland Security regulations. The regulations required providing at least 30 days to challenge the agency's allegations and giving Harvard an opportunity to pursue an administrative appeal. Harvard has said losing the right to enrol international students would affect about one quarter of its student body and devastate the school. It has denied Trump administration charges of alleged bias against conservatives, fostering antisemitism on campus and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party. The Homeland Security Department said it sent Harvard the notice after school officials indicated an intent to comply with requirements of the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows Harvard to enrol non-U.S. students. "We continue to reject Harvard's repeated pattern of endangering its students and spreading American hate — it must change its ways to be eligible to receive generous benefits from the American people," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. The university, the nation's oldest and wealthiest, enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, about 27 per cent of its total enrolment. The department's move would prevent Harvard from enrolling new international students and require existing ones to transfer to other schools or lose their legal status.
