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A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s move to bar Harvard University from enrolling international students, just one day after the policy was announced.
US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard’s request for a temporary restraining order, writing in a brief two-page ruling May 23 that the university would suffer “immediate and irreparable injury” if the order were allowed to stand.
The decision came hours after Harvard sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which had revoked the university’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Without that certification, Harvard would be prohibited from admitting new international students, and current enrollees would be required to transfer or leave the country.
In its suit, Harvard alleged that the administration’s actions violated the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act.
“It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students,” the filing read. “The government’s actions are unlawful for other equally clear and pernicious reasons.”
The DHS order followed Harvard’s refusal to fully comply with a request from Secretary Kristi Noem for records on foreign students allegedly involved in criminal or disciplinary offenses. In a public statement, Noem accused the university of enabling “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to create an unsafe campus, specifically citing attacks on Jewish students and broader collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party.
According to the lawsuit, Harvard claimed it submitted the requested documentation by the deadline, but the administration rejected it as “‘insufficient,’ without explaining why.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended the administration’s actions Friday in a statement to CNN.
“They have repeatedly failed to take action to address the widespread problems negatively impacting American students and now they must face the consequences of their actions,” Jackson said.
The move is the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on elite universities it accuses of promoting left-wing ideologies. Last month, the White House froze over $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard over the school’s refusal to dismantle its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and failure to address antisemitism on campus. That funding freeze is now also being challenged in court.
