Harvard University Sues Trump Administration Over Ban on Enrolling Foreign Students

IBL News | New York

Harvard University on Friday sued the Trump administration over its ban on enrolling foreign students, calling it unconstitutional retaliation.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security said it would block international students from attending the nation’s oldest university.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government’s action violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution and will have an “immediate and devastating effect for Harvard and more than 7,000 visa holders”.

The Ivy League institution enrolls almost 6,800 foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Most are graduate students, and they come from more than 100 countries.

The Department of Homeland Security gave Harvard 72 hours to turn over all documents on all international students’ disciplinary records and paper, audio, or video records on protest activity over the past five years to have the “opportunity” to have its eligibility to enroll foreign students reinstated.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology extended an open invitation to Harvard international students and those accepted in response to the action against Harvard.

The administration’s action and Harvard’s response signified a dramatic escalation of the battle between the administration and Harvard.

Meanwhile, a federal judge—Boston judge Allison D. Burroughs—halted temporarily Trump’s administration’s effort to bar international students at Harvard, issuing a temporary restraining order against the federal edict. The judge agreed that Harvard had shown that its implementation would cause “immediate and irreparable injury” to the university.

The move froze the Trump administration’s attempts against Harvard.

• Harvard University: “Supporting Our International Students and Scholars”

• President Trump explains the “Harvard problem”: