Harvard challenges Trump administration over visa restrictions for international students

Just a day after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation suspending the entry of new international students to Harvard under F, M, or J visas, the university on June 5, 2025, filed an amended lawsuit in a federal court seeking immediate judicial intervention to halt the enforcement of the proclamation.

The amended complaint builds on an existing legal challenge that Harvard had previously initiated against the Trump administration’s attempts to limit foreign student enrollment. This earlier lawsuit had already resulted in a federal judge issuing a temporary restraining order, blocking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from revoking Harvard’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).

The new legal filing argues that the latest proclamation is a deliberate attempt to circumvent that court order and imposes unlawful restrictions targeting Harvard specifically.


Harvard’s legal team asserts that the proclamation violates the First Amendment by infringing upon the academic freedom and rights of both the university and its students. The lawsuit emphasizes that international students comprise over a quarter of Harvard’s student body - about 27% - and are integral to the institution’s mission and intellectual vitality.

“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the complaint states, highlighting the irreparable harm the university would face if the proclamation were allowed to stand.

The amended lawsuit further contends that the Trump administration’s rationale for the proclamation - national security - is pretextual and part of a broader “governmental vendetta” against Harvard. It notes that the proclamation does not actually identify a class of aliens whose entry would be detrimental to U.S. interests, as required by the statute invoked by the president.

Instead, it singles out Harvard students for exclusion, while other international students may still enter the U.S. to attend other universities.

Harvard has requested that U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs extend her earlier restraining order to include the new proclamation, thereby preventing its enforcement while the case proceeds.

In a letter to the Harvard community, President Alan M. Garber called the administration’s actions “illegal” and “retaliatory,” and assured students and faculty that the university is working to ensure international students can continue their studies and research at Harvard.