Harvard reprieve from Trump's foreign student ban extended by judge

By David Voreacos and Greg Ryan

 

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.

 

The judge said she would issue her new order based on feedback from lawyers for the two sides. Her ruling came after a Justice Department lawyer said the Trump administration was no longer imposing a near-immediate ban on foreign students and instead letting the school go through a 30-day administrative process. 

 

“I want it to be worded in such a way so that nothing changes,” Burroughs said of the new order. “I want to make sure the status quo is clearly maintained.” She said extending her temporary block “would give some protection to the international students who are anxious about coming here.”

 

Main Target

 

Harvard is the main target of President Donald Trump’s efforts to force universities to crack down on antisemitism, remove perceived political bias and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The US has already frozen more than $2.6 billion in federal research funding at Harvard. The university is challenging that freeze in a separate lawsuit before Burroughs. 

 

After the hearing, Harvard said it would “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.”

 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said it’s clear that the university “disdains the American people and takes for granted US taxpayer benefits,” and that “we continue to reject Harvard’s repeated pattern of endangering its students and spreading American hate — it must change its ways in order to participate in American programs.” The White House said the Trump administration has the final say over the certification and that it is “confident in the legality of our actions.”

 

The hearing took place as the school was conducting its commencement ceremonies for graduating students across the Charles River in Cambridge, where the keynote speaker was author and doctor Abraham Verghese.

 

“Part of what makes America great, if I can use that phrase, is that it allows an immigrant like me to blossom here,” said Verghese, who was was born in Ethiopia. 

 

Government’s Position

 

Noem said on May 22 that she was suspending Harvard’s certification to enroll about 6,800 international students, or 27% of the student body. She said Harvard’s responses to government requests for information about misconduct by foreign students were insufficient. 

 

To regain permission, Harvard was given 72 hours to provide six categories of information about foreign students dating back five years, including disciplinary records and video of those engaged in protests. Harvard sued the next day, prompting Burroughs to impose a temporary ban about two hours later. Justice Department lawyer Tiberius Davis said at the hearing that the US had decided it was better to go through the 30-day process.

 

In a court filing on Wednesday, Harvard said the ban is already causing harm and spreading fear, despite the temporary order. US customs officials at Boston Logan International Airport ordered secondary screenings of Harvard visa holders — including a former head of state who is a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School — immediately after Homeland Security issued the order, a school official said in the filing. 

 

Students Cheer Ruling

 

Students and their family members at the commencement cheered as they learned of the ruling. Wendy Valencia, a student from Colombia receiving a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology, saw the news on her classmate’s phone. They raised their hands together in celebration.

 

Valencia had been distressed about whether she would even be able to graduate, after six years of study at the Ivy League school, let alone take the prestigious fellowship she had lined up. She said she was grateful that the school moved quickly to secure the court ruling. 

 

“I feel very proud of the university, to be able to stand up for international students,” she said, noting that many in her program are foreign students. “Right now, we are living step by step.”

 

University lawyers argue that the Trump administration is retaliating against the school for exercising its free speech rights and that the government failed to follow proper administrative procedures. At the hearing, Harvard attorney Ian Gershengorn told Burroughs “the First Amendment harms that we are suffering are real and are continuing.”  

 

A delegation of Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren issued a statement warning that the crackdown risked a “chilling effect that discourages the best and brightest students from around the world from coming to study in the United States.”

 

Massachusetts is particularly vulnerable to the administration’s actions, with one of largest concentrations of higher education institutions in the country. The state hosts more than 80,000 international students, who contribute almost $4 billion to its economy, the lawmakers said.

 

The case is Harvard v. US Department of Homeland Security, 25-cv-11472, US District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).