US Court Overturns Trump’s Ban on Foreign Students at Harvard

• Trump administration cuts Harvard’s $3.2 billion in grants and contracts.
• International students make up 27% of total enrollment.
• Judge cites “irreparable harm” in ruling against U.S. government.
  

NEW YORK: A U.S. court has temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s latest attempt to prevent foreign students from enrolling at Harvard, intensifying the administration’s conflict with one of the globe’s most renowned universities.

A proclamation from the White House, issued late Wednesday, aimed to restrict most new international students from entering the U.S. and threatened existing foreign enrollees with visa termination.

“Harvard’s actions have made it an unsuitable destination for foreign students and researchers,” stated the order.

Harvard swiftly updated a prior complaint filed in federal court, asserting, “This isn’t the first time the administration has tried to cut off Harvard from its international students.”

“This is part of a deliberate and escalating campaign of retaliation by the government in obvious retribution for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s attempts to control its governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and student body.”

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled on Thursday that the government cannot enforce Trump’s proclamation.

She indicated that Harvard had demonstrated it faced “immediate and irreparable injury” without a temporary restraining order before all parties had a chance to be heard.

This same judge had previously blocked Trump’s earlier effort to prevent international students from enrolling at the prestigious institution.

‘Vendetta’

The administration has already withdrawn approximately $3.2 billion in federal grants and contracts from Harvard and vowed to exclude the institution from any future federal financial support.

This prestigious university has become a target in Trump’s campaign against top-tier colleges, particularly after it resisted his demands to grant oversight over its curriculum, faculty recruitment, and “viewpoint diversity.”

Trump has specifically called attention to international students at Harvard, who comprised 27% of total enrollment in the 2024-2025 academic year and contribute significantly to the university’s revenue.

In its legal filing, Harvard acknowledged that the President has the authority to restrict an entire group of foreigners if it’s considered to be in the public interest, but insisted that this case does not fall into that category.

The institution stated, “The President’s actions are not aimed at serving the ‘interests of the United States’ but instead reflect a governmental vendetta against Harvard.”

Since his return to office, Trump has zeroed in on elite U.S. universities which he and his supporters accuse of harboring anti-Semitism, liberal bias, and “woke” ideology.

On Wednesday, Trump’s education secretary even threatened to revoke Columbia University’s accreditation, targeting the Ivy League institution for allegedly failing to address harassment of Jewish students, putting its federal funding at risk.

In contrast to Harvard, several other leading universities, including Columbia, have already conceded to significant demands from the Trump administration.