By Reuters
BOSTON: A federal judge said on Thursday she would extend an order blocking President Donald Trump’s administration from immediately revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students, a victory for the Ivy League school that is entangled in multiple battles with the administration.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston announced her intention to issue a preliminary injunction, six days after she first granted Harvard a temporary order blocking the Trump administration’s move.
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
As the court hearing unfolded on Thursday morning, thousands of Harvard students were receiving their degrees at the school’s commencement ceremony on campus about 5 miles (8 km) away.
University President Alan Garber, who received a standing ovation, welcomed graduating students “from down the street, across the country and around the world,” drawing applause for the last words.
“Around the world – just as it should be,” he added.
The Trump administration has launched a multifront attack on the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding, proposing to end its tax-exempt status and opening an investigation into whether it discriminated against white, Asian, male or straight employees or job applicants.
Revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll international students would be damaging, the school says. More than a quarter of the student body is international; nearly 60% of the graduate students at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School hail from other countries.
The attack on Harvard is part of the administration’s broader effort to pressure higher education institutions to align with its policy agenda.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would start “aggressively” revoking visas issued to Chinese students attending U.S. schools, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and those studying in critical fields, which he did not specify.
More than 275,000 Chinese students are enrolled in hundreds of U.S. colleges, providing a major source of revenue for the schools and a crucial pipeline of talent for U.S. technology companies. The decision prompted despair and frustration among students who have offers to attend next year.
Prior to Rubio’s announcement, the offensive against U.S. colleges had largely been confined to Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, which it has accused of left-wing bias and antisemitism.
Lynn Pasquerella, president of the advocacy group American Association of Colleges and Universities, said the Trump administration’s targeting of international students would have negative consequences for schools and the U.S.
“Chinese students, in particular, now that they’re being faced with hyper-scrutiny, are looking elsewhere,” she said. “That is a huge loss for us. It’s a brain drain.”
