Trump’s administration is blocking Harvard University from enrolling international students and is forcing currently enrolled foreign students to leave the university or risk losing their legal status in the country.
Thursday’s announcement accelerates the administration’s pressure campaign against the nation’s oldest school in an escalating effort to bend institutions to the president’s ideologically driven demands.
The Trump administration previously warned that the university’s federal funding was at risk if it did not comply with the president’s efforts to eliminate diversity programs, cooperate with immigration enforcement, dissolve pro-Palestine demonstrations and submit to a “viewpoint diversity” audit.
The Department of Homeland Security claims Harvard “has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students, and otherwise obstruct its once-venerable learning environment.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused,” she said in a statement. “They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”
Roughly 6,800 international students attended Harvard this year, making up more than a quarter of the university’s student body.
A spokesman for the university called the move “unlawful.”
“We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard’s ability to host our international students and scholars, who hail from more than 140 countries and enrich the university — and this nation — immeasurably,” according to a statement from media relations director Jason Newton. “We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard’s academic and research mission.”
Thursday’s announcement arrived as a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from revoking legal status for international students nationwide while a legal challenge is ongoing.
The order from California District Judge Jeffrey White blocks the government from arresting or jailing students over their legal status after the administration “wreaked havoc” on the lives of hundreds of foreign students studying in the United States.
White, who was nominated by George W. Bush, issued a nationwide injunction following a lawsuit from a group of students whose legal statuses were abruptly terminated by immigration officials earlier this year. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he has “proudly” terminated hundreds of student visas.
Source: BBC
