A United States judge, on Friday, temporarily blocked the Donald Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students.
The order has provided temporary relief to the thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university called a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws.
The Ivy League school called part of President Trump’s policy a broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence” and said it would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school said in its lawsuit filed in Boston federal court on Friday.
Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, which is 27% of its total enrollment.
The move was the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House, as the Republican administration seeks to compel universities, law firms, news media, courts and other institutions that value independence from partisan politics to align with his agenda.
Harvard has strongly resisted Trump, having previously sued to restore nearly $3 billion in federal grants that had been frozen or cancelled.
In recent weeks, the administration has also proposed ending Harvard’s tax-exempt status, hiking taxes on its endowment, and opening an investigation into whether it violated civil rights laws.
The Trump administration may appeal US District Judge Allison Burroughs’ ruling. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said: “unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy.”
Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, his administration has accused several universities of indifference toward the welfare of Jewish students during widespread campus protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Harvard says a fifth of its international students in 2024 were from China, Washington’s primary geopolitical rival.
