BREAKING: Trump admin blocked from revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students as school brings suit

The ruling, issued Friday by US District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston, comes in response to an emergency motion filed by Harvard earlier that day.

The university asked the court to stop the administration from cutting off its access to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a federal system required to manage and enroll international students.

The judge agreed that Harvard and its students could face harm if the revocation were to proceed. The restraining order will remain in place for about two weeks, with hearings scheduled for May 27 and May 29.

The attempted revocation from the Department of Homeland Security came after the agency ended $2.7 million in grants to the school.

"Harvard’s leadership 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. Many of these agitators are foreign students," a notice from DHS read. "Harvard’s leadership further facilitated, and engaged in coordinated activity with the CCP, including hosting and training members of a CCP paramilitary group complicit in the Uyghur genocide."

Foreign students make up a significant portion of Harvard’s enrollment and finances. This academic year, around 6,800 international students attended the university, accounting for approximately 27 percent of its student body. Their tuition payments, which are typically higher than those of domestic students, contribute substantially to the school’s funding.

"I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a letter to Harvard President Alan M. Garber, according to The New York Times.

In the letter, Noem accused Harvard of failing to meet basic agency expectations, including "simple reporting requirements," and claimed the university had "perpetuat[ed] an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies.”

According to The Harvard Crimson, the revocation would block Harvard from enrolling international students on F-1 or J-1 visas for the 2025–2026 academic year. Those currently attending under those visas would be forced to transfer, adjust their visa status, or leave the United States.

Noem defended the administration’s move in a statement: "This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus. It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. 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."

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