A judge temporarily blocked, Friday, May 23, the Trump administration ’s decision to deprive the prestigious Harvard University of its foreign students. According to a legal document, the university filed a complaint early Friday morning at the Massachusetts Federal Court , which agreed to temporarily stay this decision. “This is the last act of reprisal led by the government against Harvard and its right to the First Amendment” [which protects freedom of expression] “to reject the government’s requests, which seeks to take control of Harvard management, its programs, and the ‘ideology’ of the university and students,” read the complaint.
The Trump administration had previously banned, on Thursday, the prestigious private university near Boston , from welcoming foreign students, depriving the institution of a substantial means of influence. This represents a new escalation in the government’s offensive against higher education. According to its website, Harvard, recognized globally and producing 162 Nobel Prize winners , welcomed around 6,700 international students this year, or 27% of its total student population.
“The certification of the SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor) program is revoked with immediate effect,” wrote the Minister of Internal Security, Kristi Noem , in a letter addressed to the establishment. The Trump administration criticizes Harvard for promoting “violence, anti-Semitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.” The Chinese Communist Party exercises strict control over various aspects of Chinese society , including higher education, and many Chinese students seek training abroad. Current official figures show that over 1,300 Chinese students are enrolled at Harvard.
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Harvard: the university stunned after the ultimatum from the Trump administration regarding foreign students
“Illegal and Unjustified Measures”
According to Kristi Noem, this decision means that Harvard cannot receive students with F or J visas for the 2025-2026 school year , representing an immense loss of potential funds and international influence for the campus. Registered foreign students must “transfer” to another university, under threat of losing their visa to reside in the United States. The minister supported her shocking decision with an ultimatum: if Harvard wants to regain this “privilege,” it must provide a series of hypothetical activities regarding “illegal” activities of its foreign students over the past five years within a seventy-hour timeframe.
“We condemn these illegal and unjustified measures,” Harvard’s president, Alan Garber , stated on Friday, emphasizing that this decision “endangers the future of thousands of students” from the university and serves as a “warning” for those who chose the United States to study and “fulfill their dreams.”
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“At Harvard, government interference between Orwellian requirements and authoritarian impulse”
The Trump administration’s offensive against higher education in the United States has intensified. The administration accused prestigious universities, especially Harvard and Columbia , of allowing anti-Semitism and failing to protect Jewish students during demonstrations against the war in Gaza , initiated by Israel following the October 7, 2023 attacks by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas . Moreover, Trump had previously cut $2.7 billion in federal subsidies to Harvard as a response to the institution refusing to comply with a series of demands from the President and critiques against the government.