Latest news with #StudentandExchangeVisitorProgramme
Borneo Post
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Borneo Post
US federal judge allows Harvard hosting foreign students
People enter and exit the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2025. – AFP file photo NEW YORK (June 21): A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration's efforts to keep Harvard University from hosting international students, reported Xinhua quoting local media. US District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled that Harvard preserves the ability to host foreign students while the case is decided, local media reported Friday. US Department of Homeland Security on May 22 revoked Harvard's certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme, forcing roughly 7,000 foreign students at Harvard to transfer or risk being in the United States illegally. Harvard sued the department, calling it illegal retaliation for rejecting the Trump administration's demands to overhaul Harvard policies around campus protests, admissions, hiring and other issues. Burroughs temporarily halted the action hours after Harvard sued. In early June, President Donald Trump blocked foreign students from entering the United States to attend Harvard, citing a different legal justification. Harvard challenged the move and Burroughs temporarily blocked the effort again. Addressing conservative complaints that Harvard has become too liberal and has tolerated anti-Jewish harassment, the Trump administration has cut more than US$2.6 billion in research grants for Harvard, ended federal contracts and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status. – Bernama-Xinhua donald trump federal judge Harvard University international students
Straits Times
21 hours ago
- Politics
- 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.
Dubai Eye
5 days ago
- Politics
- Dubai Eye
Harvard to urge judge to bar Trump from closing doors for international students
A federal judge is set to consider on Monday whether to extend an order blocking US President Donald Trump's plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the country to study at Harvard University. US District Judge Allison Burroughs during a hearing in Boston will weigh whether to issue an injunction barring Trump's administration from implementing his latest bid to curtail Harvard's ability to host international students while the university's lawsuit challenging the restrictions plays out. Almost 6,800 international students attended Harvard in its most recent school year, making up about 27 per cent of the student population of the prestigious school located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. China and India are among the top countries of origin for these students. The judge scheduled the hearing after issuing a temporary restraining order on June 6 preventing the administration from implementing a proclamation that Trump had signed a day earlier. His administration has launched a multifront attack on the oldest and wealthiest US 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 that the administration is retaliating against it in violation of the US Constitution's First Amendment protections against government abridgment of free speech for refusing to accede to its demands to control the school's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students. It has filed two separate lawsuits before Burroughs seeking to unfreeze $2.5 billion in funding and to prevent Trump's administration from blocking the ability of international students to attend the university. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on May 22 announced that her department was immediately revoking Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification, the governmental mechanism that allows it to enroll foreign students. Her action was almost immediately blocked by Burroughs. While the homeland security department has since shifted to challenging Harvard's certification through a lengthier administrative process, Burroughs at a May 29 hearing said she planned to issue a "broad" injunction to maintain the status quo. A week later, though, Trump signed his proclamation, which cited national security concerns to contend that Harvard is "no longer a trustworthy steward of international student and exchange visitor programms". The proclamation suspended the entry of foreign nationals to study at Harvard or participate in exchange visitor programmes for an initial period of six months and directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider whether to revoke visas of international students already enrolled at Harvard. Harvard has asked Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, to block Trump's directive. The university has said the administration unconstitutionally "sought to sever Harvard from its international students, with the inevitable and intended effect of wreaking havoc on the Harvard community, throwing into disarray every aspect of campus life". In court papers, the US Justice Department urged Burroughs not to lump Trump's proclamation in with the judge's consideration of Noem's actions, as it did not ban existing students and Trump relied on different legal authority for his order.
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Harvard wins extension of court order blocking Trump's international student ban
Harvard merchandise is seen in a window during Harvard University's 374th Commencement in Cambridge, Massachusetts. PHOTO: SOPHIE PARK/NYTIMES BOSTON - A federal judge said on June 16 that she would issue a brief extension of an order temporarily blocking President Donald Trump's plan to bar foreign nationals from entering the US to study at Harvard University while she decides whether to issue a longer-term injunction. US District Judge Allison Burroughs, at the end of a hearing in Boston in Harvard's legal challenge to the restrictions, extended to June 23 a temporary restraining order that had been set to expire on June 19. She said she wanted to give herself more time to prepare a ruling. 'We'll kick out an opinion as soon as we can,' she said. Mr Ian Gershengorn, a lawyer for Harvard, told her that an injunction was necessary to ensure Mr Trump's administration could not implement his latest bid to curtail the school's ability to host international students. The judge scheduled the hearing after issuing a temporary restraining order on June 6 preventing the administration from implementing a proclamation that Trump had signed a day earlier. A preliminary injunction would provide longer-term relief to Harvard. Mr Gershengorn argued Mr Trump signed the proclamation to retaliate against Harvard in violation of its free speech rights under the US Constitution's First Amendment for refusing to accede to his administration's demands to control the school's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students. 'The proclamation is a plain violation of the First Amendment,' Mr Gershengorn said. Almost 6,800 international students attended Harvard in its most recent school year, making up about 27 per cent of the student population of the prestigious school located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. China and India are among the top countries of origin for these students. The Trump administration has launched a multifront attack on the oldest and wealthiest US 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 has filed two separate lawsuits before Ms Burroughs seeking to unfreeze US$2.5 billion (S$3.2 billion) in funding and to prevent Mr Trump's administration from blocking the ability of international students to attend the university. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on May 22 announced that her department was immediately revoking Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme certification, the governmental mechanism that allows it to enroll foreign students. Her action was almost immediately blocked by Ms Burroughs. While the Department of Homeland Security has since shifted to challenging Harvard's certification through a lengthier administrative process. Ms Burroughs at a May 29 hearing said she planned to issue a 'broad' injunction to maintain the status quo. A week later, though, Mr Trump signed his proclamation, which cited national security concerns to contend that Harvard is 'no longer a trustworthy steward of international student and exchange visitor programmes.' The proclamation suspended the entry of foreign nationals to study at Harvard or participate in exchange visitor programmes for an initial period of six months and directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider whether to revoke visas of international students already enrolled at Harvard. Harvard has asked Ms Burroughs, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, to block Trump's directive. In court papers, the US Justice Department urged Ms Burroughs not to lump Mr Trump's proclamation in with the judge's consideration of Ms Noem's actions, as it did not ban existing students and Mr Trump relied on different legal authority for his order. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New Indian Express
10-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Indian students at Harvard navigate uncertainties amid Trump's war on university
The students also pointed out that funding cuts initiated by the Trump administration are impacting jobs in the policy space, climate change, healthcare and public health sectors. The Design School student recalled that just days before graduating last month, students found out that the Trump administration had terminated Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification, which meant the university could no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status. "We had just finished our final presentations, we were celebrating over lunch, and we saw this news. It was quite unbelievable. Six months ago, you could never predict that something like this would happen," she said. She however urged foreign students not to feel discouraged by the current situation. "This should not discourage people. Because I think what institutions like Harvard also do is that they make you a global citizen. And if not America, people are finding pathways elsewhere," she said. Several students say they had planned to move back to India eventually but had hoped to work in the US for the initial few years, both to get experience in the American job market and also to earn to pay back the significant student loans they have. Another young student, who graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, said while the current situation has been full of "unpredictability", at some levels students are building some kind of resistance, immunity to respond to developments in real time because the Trump administration's moves against Harvard have been blocked and stalled by the courts. "The challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis probably are in terms of job opportunities, how we plan our future and the next steps," he said. "I know of some classmates of mine who have been in the final stages of interviews with a few companies, but once they found out that these students were from Harvard, they were like 'that might pose a few issues later on. So we'll move on with another candidate'," the student said. "I've seen a higher number of people who are going back (to India). They have made up their mind that it's not worth staying and then being in a state of uncertainty, away from family and home, sacrificing a lot of things for a future that remains highly, highly uncertain. So that holds lesser value now for a lot of my peers," he said. He cited media reports that said the State Department has told US consulates globally to resume processing visa applications for students planning to attend Harvard University. "All this is a signalling effect currently, which is hurting all of us a lot. Because you don't really know what, where you can apply, what you can do, employees are hesitant." He added that he has also been talking to a lot of students from India who are set to arrive in the US to commence studies at Harvard around September this year. "Generally, yes, the concern has increased a lot in terms of what kind of opportunities exist, because they would be leaving a lot of things back home. The opportunity cost is higher than ever." He said incoming students or those planning to come to the US in future to study are hesitant and are considering whether they should apply to universities in Europe and elsewhere given "the kind of environment which has been created for international students generally in the US", which will have far-reaching consequences. He said that while no one he has spoken to among the incoming students has been denied a visa, "some are reconsidering. They are unsure since there's fear of losing funding and scholarships they've received this year if they defer or don't join." According to statistics on the website of Harvard International Office, there are 788 students and scholars from India at all schools under Harvard University for the 2024-25 academic year. The Harvard Global Support Services said on its website that each year, anywhere from 500-800 Indian students and scholars study at Harvard. Harvard hosts a total of about 10,158 students and scholars from around the world across its schools, according to Harvard International Office estimates. The Kennedy School student pointed to the "American Dream" that used to bring students from India and elsewhere to the US. "I think that has been significantly affected. It's definitely not the same what it used to be, even, I would say five years ago, because a lot of this damage is unrepairable," he said. But amid all this what he found "heartening" was the university administration "stepping up" and putting forward a more resolute and strong show of support for the students. "The other thing which has been absolutely amazing to see is students showing more support for their international peers," he added.
