One of United States’ oldest educational institutions, Harvard University is in no mood to back down in its face-off with President Donald Trump’s administration after the government’s decision to bar the Ivy League from enrolling foreign students, putting in jeopardy the future of almost 7,000 international students currently enrolled. The university, in its challenge, has called the administration’s decision unconstitutional and retaliatory for resisting the White House’s political pressure to submit records on international students allegedly involved in violent protests or other “dangerous activity”.
In a complaint filed on Friday in Boston federal court, Harvard argued that the administration’s action violates the First Amendment and poses an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and over 7,000 visa-holding students.
“With the stroke of a pen, the government has sought to erase a quarter of Harvard’s student body – international students who contribute significantly to the University and its mission,” the lawsuit states, according to news agency Associated Press.
“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,” said the lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court.
Harvard said it plans to seek a temporary restraining order to prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from enforcing the directive.
The Trump administration has alleged that Harvard had fostered an unsafe campus by enabling “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to target Jewish students. DHS also accused the university of having ties with the Chinese Communist Party, claiming Harvard hosted and trained members of a Chinese paramilitary group as recently as 2024.
In response, Harvard president Alan Garber stated earlier this month that the university had made changes to its governance and rolled out a broad anti- semitism strategy. He emphasised that Harvard would not compromise on its “core, legally-protected principles” in the face of political retaliation. The university said it would respond separately to the CCP allegations made by House Republicans.
Harvard’s troubles with the Trump administration had earlier started with a legal battle against over $2 billion in federal funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration.
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