US judge blocks Trump administration's move to bar foreign students at Harvard
BOSTON: A federal judge on Friday (Jun 20) blocked the Trump administration's efforts to prevent Harvard University from hosting international students, delivering the Ivy League institution another victory as it challenges multiple government sanctions amid an escalating battle with the White House.
The order from US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston preserves Harvard's ability to host foreign students while the case is decided.
Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security in May after the agency withdrew the university's certification to host foreign students and issue paperwork for their visas. The action would have forced Harvard's roughly 7,000 foreign students, about a quarter of its total enrolment, to transfer or risk being in the United States illegally. New foreign students would have been barred from coming to Harvard.
The university called it unlawful retaliation for rejecting the White House's demands to overhaul policies around campus protests, admissions, hiring, and other issues. Burroughs temporarily halted the action hours after Harvard filed suit.
Less than two weeks later, in early June, President Donald Trump moved to block foreign students from entering the United States to attend Harvard, citing a different legal justification. Harvard challenged the move, and Burroughs temporarily blocked that effort as well.
The stops and starts of the legal battle have unsettled current students and left others around the world waiting to find out whether they will be able to attend America's oldest and wealthiest university.
The Trump administration's actions have created an environment of 'profound fear, concern, and confusion,' the university said in a court filing. Countless international students have asked about transferring, according to Harvard immigration services director Maureen Martin.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S BROADER CAMPAIGN AGAINST HARVARD
Trump has been at odds with Harvard for months after it rejected a series of government demands meant to address conservative complaints that the school has become too liberal and has tolerated anti-Jewish harassment. Trump administration officials have cut more than US$2.6 billion in research grants, ended federal contracts, and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status.
In April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded that Harvard turn over records related to any dangerous or unlawful activity by foreign students. Harvard said it complied, but Noem deemed the response insufficient and on 22 May revoked Harvard's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme.
The sanctions placed Harvard at a disadvantage as it competed for top global students, the university said in its lawsuit, and damaged its reputation as a leading research hub. 'Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,' the suit stated.
The action would have upended graduate programmes that recruit heavily from abroad. Some universities overseas, including two in Hong Kong, quickly offered invitations to affected Harvard students.
Harvard President Alan Garber has said the university has implemented changes to combat antisemitism. However, he added that Harvard would not stray from its 'core, legally protected principles,' even in the face of federal ultimatums.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
34 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Trump floats firing ‘numbskull' Fed chair Jerome Powell
Mr Jerome Powell's term as chairman of the US Federal Reserve does not conclude until next year. PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on June 20 – publicly mulling whether to fire the official and appoint himself to the central bank. The Republican leader, who regularly berates Mr Powell over the bank's decisions not to lower interest rates, took to Truth Social to smear the banker as a 'numbskull,' 'moron' and 'obvious Trump Hater'. 'I fully understand that my strong criticism of him makes it more difficult for him to do what he should be doing, lowering Rates, but I've tried it all different ways,' said Mr Trump, who appointed Mr Powell during his first term. 'I've been nice, I've been neutral, and I've been nasty, and nice and neutral didn't work!' Mr Powell's term does not conclude until next year. He has said his dismissal would be unlawful, and that he has no intention of stepping down voluntarily if Mr Trump asks. 'I don't know why the Board doesn't override this Total and Complete Moron!' Mr Trump posted. 'Maybe, just maybe, I'll have to change my mind about firing him? But regardless, his Term ends shortly!' Mr Trump lashed out after the Fed held interest rates steady for a fourth consecutive meeting on June 18, forecasting higher inflation and cooler growth as Trump's tariffs take hold. The projections were its first since Mr Trump unleashed sweeping 10 per cent tariffs on almost all trading partners in April. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
Japan scraps US meeting after Washington demands more defence spending: report
[WASHINGTON] Japan has cancelled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally, the United States, after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defence, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Friday (Jun 20). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet their Japanese counterparts in Washington on Jul 1 for annual 2+2 security talks. But Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the US side asked Japan to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, higher than an earlier request of 3 per cent, the paper cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter, including two officials in Tokyo, as saying. A US official who did not want to be identified confirmed Japan had 'postponed' the talks but said the decision was made several weeks ago. The source did not cite a reason. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting, but not the reason for it doing so. US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said she had no comment on the FT report when asked about it at the regular briefing, and the Pentagon also had no immediate comment. Japan's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The Financial Times said the new higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key US ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that other nations do not decide Japan's defence budget after Colby called in his nomination hearing to be under secretary of defence for policy, for Tokyo to spend more to counter China. Japan and other US allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over US President Donald Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The FT said the decision to cancel the Jul 1 meeting was also related to Japan's Jul 20 Upper House elections, at which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to suffer a loss of seats. It comes ahead of a meeting of the US-led Nato alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. REUTERS
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
‘Mindbogglingly HISTORIC': Trump says deal with Harvard possible ‘over the next week or so'
The Trump Administration has said its actions against Harvard are justified based on a litany of allegations. PHOTO: REUTERS 'Mindbogglingly HISTORIC': Trump says deal with Harvard possible 'over the next week or so' BOSTON - US President Donald Trump on June 20 said his administration has been working with Harvard University and could announce a deal 'over the next week or so' to resolve the White House's campaign against the country's oldest and richest university. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, he raised the prospect of a deal with the Ivy League school, which has sued the federal government after his administration terminated billions of dollars in grants awarded to Harvard and moved to bar the school from admitting international students. The Republican president's administration has said its actions against Harvard are justified based on a litany of allegations, including that the school was not doing enough to combat antisemitic harassment on campus. Mr Trump said his administration is addressing 'improprieties' at Harvard. He said individuals at Harvard '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,' he wrote. He made the statement shortly after a federal judge in Boston issued an injunction blocking the US Department of Homeland Security from immediately revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students. That injunction prevents the US Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme without first going through a months-long administrative process, which it now plans to do. Harvard had no immediate comment on Mr Trump's post, but in a statement it welcomed US District Judge Allison Burroughs' order, adding it 'will continue to defend its rights – and the rights of its students and scholars'. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard has filed two lawsuits seeking to unfreeze around US$2.5 billion in funding and to prevent the administration from blocking the ability of international students to attend the university. Harvard alleges that Mr Trump has been retaliating against it, violating its free speech rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment, because it refused to accede to the administration's demands to control the school's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students. Judge Burroughs is expected to rule in the coming days on Harvard's related request that she continue blocking implementation of a proclamation Trump signed barring foreign nationals from entering the US to study at the university. International students comprise about a quarter of its student body. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
