The ruling came just hours after Harvard filed a lawsuit against the administration. The legal action followed the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement a day earlier that it would revoke the university’s ability to enrol international students — prompting a swift response from Harvard, one of the United States’ oldest and most prestigious universities.
AMN / WEB DESK
A federal judge in United States has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s ban on Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students.
US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs ruled hours after the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college filed suit Friday. Harvard argued revocation of its certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program was “clear retaliation” for its refusal of the government’s ideologically rooted policy demands.
Burroughs is the same judge considering a separate lawsuit from Harvard challenging the administration’s freeze of $2.65 billion in federal funding.
Harvard’s latest complaint argues the decision Thursday to drop the school from the Department of Homeland Security’s SEVP system 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.
Strong words from Harvard’s leadership
Alan M Garber, Harvard’s president, addressed the university community in a letter on Friday (May 23) morning. He wrote, “We condemn this unlawful and unwarranted action,” and added that it “imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.”