US Judge Allison D. Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, a move described by the university as unconstitutional retaliation. The ruling was issued hours after Harvard filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court. It halted US cabinet level department, the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate the university’s certification in the SEVP or the Student and Exchange Visitor Program that manages foreign student visas. This action would have stopped Harvard from admitting new foreign students and forced over 6,800 currently enrolled students, who make up about 27% of its student body to transfer to other universities or risk losing legal status.
Harvard’s lawsuit argued that Homeland security’s move violated the First Amendment. In other words, the university claimed that it was retaliation for not meeting the Trump administration’s demands to change its governance, curriculum, and diversity policies.
The Trump administration justified the revocation by pinning blames on the university for harbouring ‘anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators’ and coordinates with the Chinese Communist Party, accusations that Harvard denied. The Department of Homeland Security’s secretary Kristi Noem was provided an exhaustive list on foreign students’ conduct but that too was deemed inconclusive. Judge Burroughs, an Obama appointee, faced criticism by Whitehouse spokesperson Abigail Jackson who called the ruling an over sight by “unelected judges” and accusing Harvard of neglecting antisemitism on campus.
