Harvard University's foreign students can't rejoice now as reprieve won’t stop looming threats

Harvard University can continue to enroll international students – for now.

A federal judge’s reprieve on Friday was quickly hailed as a victory for the country’s wealthiest university in its battle with the Trump administration.

But the respite is temporary. The government’s move a day earlier to bar Harvard from enrolling foreign students remains a real threat, laying bare how far President Donald Trump is willing to push his fight with the university.


If the school’s 6,800 international students lose their visa status — as the Department of Homeland Security directed on Thursday — it would have an “immediate and devastating effect,” lawyers for the university told the court. Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, said the move “imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars.”

Also Read: US bans Harvard from admitting foreign students: What it means for nearly the 7,000 already on campus

Within hours of Harvard suing on Friday, Allison Burroughs, the federal judge, agreed to temporarily halt the action while she considers Harvard’s bid to overturn the ban. She’ll hold a hearing in the coming days on extending the pause.

Meanwhile, Burroughs is also presiding over a separate lawsuit the university brought in April to halt the administration’s freeze of more than $2 billion in federal money.

The Trump administration says it is acting against Harvard over the school’s handling of antisemitism on campus and other concerns. Separately, US agencies including Health and Human Services and the Department of Education are investigating the school for other issues, including possible discrimination.

Also Read: US Judge blocks Trump administration from revoking Harvard enrollment of foreign students

Before Harvard’s April lawsuit, the US had demanded a series of changes as a condition of continuing its financial relationship with the government: It needed to remake its governance, transform admissions and faculty hiring, as well as stop admitting international students the government says are hostile to American values.

The government also demanded that Harvard ensure more diverse viewpoints on a campus that it says leans too liberal.

Harvard’s Garber said the school shares “common ground on a number of critical issues” with the government, but couldn’t allow it to dictate “the content of its teaching, the composition of its community, and the structure of its governance.”

The government’s threat, and the outcome of Harvard’s legal challenges, will have lasting implications for the country’s oldest university, and for US higher education.

Millions in tuition

Harvard’s students from overseas make up 27% of its total undergraduate and graduate population. Foreign students collectively pay millions in tuition, although the school offers need-based aid to undergraduate students based on financial circumstances. Harvard is also one of the best-known American brands internationally.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that Harvard’s responses to government’s requests to provide information about misconduct by foreign students were insufficient.

Also Read: How Trump's decision to stop Harvard from enrolling international students may impact US economy

In suspending the university’s certification to enroll foreign students, the government said it would require existing international students to transfer or lose their legal status under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

To regain its program certification, Harvard was given 72 hours to provide six categories of information about foreign students dating back five years, including disciplinary records and video of those engaged in protests.

In a recent report, Harvard acknowledged incidents of both anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim bias on campus, along with an apology from Garber and a commitment to make more changes.

The university said in its court filing that it has been in regular contact with the Department of Homeland Security and supplied the legally required data and additional disciplinary information on international students.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Friday called the Trump administration’s action “a direct attack on Boston and our communities.”

The university’s international students contribute research and volunteer their time to community causes, said Wu, who is an alumnus of both Harvard’s undergraduate program and law school. Harvard’s main campus is in nearby Cambridge.

Answering questions

On Thursday the US said Harvard failed to answer its questions about “criminality and misconduct of foreign students.” It said Harvard was “perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ policies.”

Harvard’s latest lawsuit said the Department of Homeland Security never gave it a meaningful chance to answer the agency’s questions and violated the university’s constitutional rights. Harvard said the action caused “immediate chaos” for a quarter of its student body just as the spring term was ending.

Harvard’s legal strategy in the case is proceeding on two main fronts — that the government is violating its First Amendment right to free speech, and that the government failed to follow federal regulations for revoking a school’s ability to accept foreign students.

The school’s lawyers said the government is retaliating for Harvard’s refusal to comply with its earlier demands, and is punishing the school for failing to hew to the “government’s preferred message.” That amounts to impermissible “viewpoint discrimination,” the school argues.

Burroughs, who was appointed in 2014 by former President Barack Obama, will begin to lay out her timeline for the case when she holds a status conference Tuesday in Boston federal court. Two days later, she will hear arguments on whether she should extend her bar on the government’s actions while the litigation moves forward.

Trump administration lawyers will also argue their side of the case. It’s not clear when Burroughs might rule and an air of uncertainty could continue to hang over campus into the summer when many global students would arrive to prepare for the academic year.

If Burroughs allows the order to take effect, Harvard’s thousands of international students would have little choice but to try to secure a transfer to another school, or they will end up without legal status in the US, the school said.

Harvard would no longer be able to sponsor those visa holders for its upcoming summer and fall terms, despite having admitted them.

At least one overseas school is already seizing on the opportunity. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology announced an “open invitation” to students enrolled at Harvard and those with confirmed offers.

‘Warning’

The government has also made clear it has many powerful financial levers to pull. Trump has said he is looking to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status, which would be a major blow to the school’s finances. Harvard is also facing an increased tax on its endowment as part of a proposed Republican-backed tax bill.

More than 1 million international students attend American colleges. Many pay the full price, significantly bolstering university finances.

In a post on X, Noem made clear the US may take further steps impacting international students beyond Harvard.

“Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country,” she said.