Harvard sues Trump administration to halt federal ban on enrolling international students

Harvard University is opening a new front in its legal battle against the Trump administration, filing suit in federal court Friday in response to the government’s move to revoke the school’s ability to enroll international students.

The complaint by the nation’s oldest and wealthiest institution of higher education argues the decision Thursday to drop the school from the Department of Homeland Security’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program violates the law.

“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 complaint states.

Harvard is asking a judge to immediately block the order by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The Trump administration’s revocation of Harvard’s ability to enroll international students came as a sharp punishment to the elite institution for refusing to bow to the administration’s policy demands. Rooted in political ideology, the requirements – such as handing over student disciplinary records and killing equity initiatives – also have been placed on other US colleges.

“Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

Harvard already is fighting the White House in court over its freeze in recent weeks of $2.65 billion in federal grants and contracts, and the Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

The bombshell over foreign scholars’ enrollment comes as students from around the world were preparing to attend one of the nation’s most prestigious universities. One would-be incoming freshman from New Zealand described hearing the news as a “heart drop” moment.

Noem said she ordered her department to terminate Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification, citing the university’s refusal to turn over the conduct records of foreign students requested by the DHS last month.

Harvard can regain its ability to enroll international students if it submits five years’ worth of records related international students’ conduct “within 72 hours,” according to Noem’s letter to Harvard.

The termination could impact more than a quarter of Harvard’s heavily international student body, now flung into anxiety and confusion. Professors warn a mass exodus of foreign students threatens to stifle Harvard’s academic prowess, even as it battles against the government for its ideological autonomy.

The White House on Thursday accused Harvard leadership of turning “their once-great institution into a hot-bed of anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist agitators” and said, “enrolling foreign students is a privilege, not a right.”

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, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to CNN.

Harvard and Trump officials have been locked in conflict for months as the administration demands the university make changes to campus programming, policies, hiring and admissions to root out on-campus antisemitism and eliminate what it calls “racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ practices.” The White House has homed in on foreign students and staff it believes participated in contentious campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

Harvard, meanwhile, has acknowledged antisemitism on its campus, particularly last academic year, and said it has begun taking concrete steps to address it.

The university’s leadership argues many of the government’s requests, including an “audit” of the “viewpoint” of its students and staff, go far beyond the role of the federal government and may violate Harvard’s constitutional rights.

DHS is demanding all records of international students participating in activities deemed “illegal,” “dangerous or violent” or threatening over the past five years, Noem’s letter says, pointing especially to audio or video footage of “any protest activity” involving foreign students on campus.

Harvard is among dozens of US universities facing harsh demands from the Trump administration, but it has emerged as the fiercest defender of its academic independence.